A Turn In Time
by LaTashaMalfoy
Summary: "I have an assignment for the two of you. A very important one at that. However I need for you two to understand that this could be dangerous. It could involve law-breaking and treachery. I hate to ask this of the two of you, especially knowing how you stand with each other, but it seems as though I need both of your greatest qualities." Rated M- lang, violence, & a lil lemonade.
1. Chapter 1

"What are you doing here?" Draco snarls as he walks up to the door of Dumbledore's office at the exact same moment as Hermione.

"Could ask you the same Malfoy," Hermione bites back, just as harsh. Dumbledore had only been back for a total of two days, one of which Hermione was still in the Hospital Wing from her head injury at the Department of Mysteries. And now, it being her first day out of the Hospital Wing, her first chance to stretch her legs and get some studying in before Harry and Ron both got released as well and she was told to come to Dumbledore's office to discuss something.

"What I discuss with Dumbledore is none of your concern, you filthy little mudblood." He hissed as Hermione threw up her wand at him, pointing it directly at his face, causing him to cringe in fear.

"Now now Hermione," A voice says from behind her, causing her to quickly drop her wand as she recognized the voice nearly with comfort. It was a man's voice, an older man, and yet the voice softly reminded her of that of her grandfather. "It won't do you any good to hex him just yet, you may need him later."

Hermione turned around, "Headmaster," She said, shocked that she had been caught in the midst of her anger. "I was...umm..."

"Yes, sometimes our anger gets the best of all of us, don't it?" Dumbledore answered, "Now come Draco, Hermione." He said, causing the two teenagers to look at each other in shock before following their Headmaster up to his office.

"What is the meaning of this?!" Draco demands, as the gargoyle twists back around behind them "I have better things to be doing right now."

"Was I not detailed enough in the letters?" Dumbledore asks, looking from Draco to Hermione confused. Quickly, both of them pull their letters back out that they had received from their Head of Houses' to make sure they didn't miss something.

_It is very important that I speak with you at your earliest convenience in my office. Thank you, Dumbledore_

_P.S.  
_

_In case you are interested, I am a huge fan of black licorice.  
_

"Have you gone mad old man?!" Draco asks again, now furious. "That doesn't tell me anything!" Hermione softly waits back, knowing that whatever Dumbledore had to tell her must be important.

"Please Draco, sit down." Dumbledore answers, sitting at the plush chair in his own desk as Hermione sits down across from him. She listens as Fawkes coughs in the background, loosing his feathers as he started to face his death and rebirth. "I have an assignment for the two of you. A very important one at that." Dumbledore says as they sit down. "However I need for you two to understand that this could be dangerous. It could involve law-breaking and treachery. I hate to ask this of the two of you, especially knowing how you stand with each other, but it seems as though I need both of your greatest qualities."

"I don't understand..." Hermione answered as Draco listened, trying to make sense of what Dumbledore was saying. Lawbreaking? Treachery? Now Dumbledore was talking his language, he had him interested.

"Come here please." Dumbledore said, leading her and Draco over to the penisieve. He took his wand, putting it up to his own temple and dropping it into the silvery liquid on the surface. "Well go ahead," He said whenever the two of them looked at him, confused as to what they were supposed to do. "Dunk your head under and open your eyes."

The two of them do as Dumbledore asked, dunking their heads under the silver liquid. The liquid swirled around their faces, sending them into what appeared to be Trelawney's classroom.

"Where are we?!" Draco demanded as he looked from Hermione to Dumbledore.

"You are in a memory Draco," Dumbledore answers, "My memory."

They watch the empty room until Trelawney walks in, Dumbledore shortly behind her. "She will not take you off of the grounds." He said as the woman who smelt of Sherry paced back and forth, her face looking fearful and sleepless.

"She just tried to Albus," Trelawney answered. "What if you weren't here? What if you aren't here next time?! The stars say you are leaving soon."

"You will be safe." Dumbledore answers, "I have made sure of it."

"And if I'm-" Trelawney starts, her eyes staring straight ahead as she stops. Dumbledore's face goes grave with concern. As she speaks, her voice sounds unfamiliar, abnormally unfamiliar as if it were someone else speaking through her. "Your death...faces you...two...so alike yet opposite...find the twin...break the box...brew the potion for wooly socks...what must be is...what will be isn't...they will hold infinity in the palms of their hands and eternity in an hour."

Hermione, Draco, and Dumbledore all three pull their heads out at the same time. Hermione understood, at least as much as she could.

"What do we do then?" Hermione asked, her mind set on helping Dumbledore to keep him alive.

"What do you mean 'we' Granger?!" Draco snarls. "I still don't see what is in this for me."

"How about the fact, Malfoy," Hermione bit back, her tone that of frustration. "The fact that it is in a prophecy."

"That don't mean anything to me." Draco answers, "I have my own problems to deal with without having to worry about _his_." He says, looking up at Dumbledore.

"Like your mother?" Dumbledore asks, causing Draco to stop as his face turned white.

"Don't bring my mother into this!" Draco snapped, thinking about his father's recent trip to Azkaban only days before, how Voldermort wasn't happy with his family for the fact. His father wasn't supposed to get caught, wasn't supposed to let the prophecy fall and yet he was safe in Azkaban from anything the Dark Lord wanted to do as punishment, leaving Draco and his mother face the Dark Lord's wrath. "She has nothing to do with this!"

"Don't she?" Dumbledore asks, "I can help you Draco. Let me help you."

"You can't help me." Draco answers back, a bit of bite in his voice. "You can't protect us!" He said, causing Hermione to wonder what they were discussing.

"I have helped others. Stopped bad things from happening to their loved ones. I can protect you both if only you ask for it."

"And how am I supposed to ask?!" Draco snarls, "You are stuck in this castle. You can't leave."

"I am the only one He fears." Dumbledore answers, "You read the stories in the Daily Prophet I assume."

Draco thought about it, the truth that the man spoke. He knew the Dark Lord feared Dumbledore. It was obvious in the way that his father talked about Dumbledore and Draco, not yet having been asked to do anything from the Dark Lord, despite his Aunt's persistent requests for Draco to be the one to go to the Dark Lord first before he came to Draco. Each request Draco merely shrugging off for the moment, hoping that would buy him time before he had to face the inevitable. And yet now here Dumbledore was, offering Draco protection from the inevitable. Offering his mother protection from what would happen if he didn't take the Dark Lord's mission when it was finally given to him. Draco couldn't help but weigh the odds, seeing them possibly working out in his favor. At this point, what did he have to lose.

"And how are you going to explain two students miraculously disappearing?" Draco asks, trying to make it sound like he wasn't contemplating the offer. "They will have the Ministry here and you gone before you can blink."

"Time is a beautiful thing Draco." Dumbledore answers. "It won't take but a minute or two. No one will know you are gone."

Draco sat there contemplating what Dumbledore had said. His mother was everything to him. He couldn't help but want to protect her in any way possible. Hermione took Draco's silence as her own opportunity to ask questions about what Dumbledore was asking them to do.

"So what is it that we are supposed to do?" She asks, picking apart the prophecy in her own head, trying to grasp on to whatever she could about it.

"I have an idea of what the box entails." Dumbledore answers, "And it's pair was broken the year before where I am sending you two back to."

"Where you are sending us back to?" Draco asks, concerned. "And how exactly are we going back?!"

"You still have your time-turner Hermione?" Dumbledore asks, looking at the girl. Softly Hermione nods, pulling it out from underneath her shirt to show him. "It looks as though that will do the trick then."

"How far back are we going?" Hermione asked next, looking at the Headmaster with dedication.

"I think a few years will be plenty of time. You are looking for a box of some sort, one that matches one we have here at Hogwarts. It's twin. I want to say it is a cabinet or a trap door of some sort." He answered, "I have spoken with a few of the ghosts here at Hogwarts, gossipers they are. Guess there is not much else to do whenever you are dead." He said, starting to ramble before bringing himself back to the task at hand. "I am wanting to say it is a-"

"A vanishing cabinet?" Draco asked, looking up from his deep train of thought. "My father had mentioned one to me once, told me how they can send someone from one place to another."

"Genius Draco," Dumbledore answers, "Yes, that would make sense if it was a Vanishing Cabinet. Like I said, I had spoken to a few of the ghosts and one of them had mentioned there being such a thing somewhere past the Leaky Cauldron although they didn't say where at exactly."

"So it could be Diagon Alley?" Hermione asked, piecing it together in her head.

"Or Knockturn." Draco answers, starting to get wrapped up in the conversation. It was like a puzzle or a riddle, one he had to piece apart to get details out of, only to piece it back together in the end. It made him feel useful, like he was finally putting his knowledge to good use. He couldn't help but also feel a slight sense of pride at the thought, knowing that Dumbledore was complimenting his knowledge rather than telling him it could be better as his father so often did. "How are we supposed to break it though?" He asked, trying to think of a way.

"You seem to have an art for Magical Repairs." Dumbledore answered, "I'm sure you can break things just as easily." Draco could only smirk at the thought, knowing Dumbledore was right. He could break things all right. He could break them perfectly.

"I'll do it." Hermione said quickly, wanting to help Dumbledore. The Headmaster looked over at Draco waiting for his answer as Draco stared off into the distance, wondering what to do. With a deep breath, softly Draco nods.

"Good," Dumbledore answered, "I have bags packed for both of you." He said, handing both Draco and Hermione backpacks which they quickly put on their backs. "An extension charm works wonders so it should have everything you need. Hermione, are you ready to use your time-turner?" He asked, looking at her. Hermione quickly nodded, putting the time-turner around both her and Draco's necks as Draco looked down in disgust and discomfort of having to be that close to her, their faces merely six or seven inches apart.

As Dumbledore turned around, starting up the spiral staircase that stood behind his desk, Hermione's voice stopped him.

"How many turns Headmaster?" She asked softly.

"Hmmm..." Dumbledore answered, thinking about it. "I think one good flick will do." He answered.

"A flick?!" Hermione asked, looking at him confused. "But..."

"Quite a few turns, isn't it Hermione?" He answered as Hermione thought about it. A good flick would be at least a couple hundred turns with how loose the hourglass in the center sat, possible up to a thousand. Before she could answer with a retort though, Dumbledore had already disappeared back up the stairs, leaving just Hermione and Draco standing there.

"Ready?" She asks, looking at Draco.

"Just do it." He answers with a snarl as Hermione flicks the time-turner with her fingernails, sending them back in time as people fly in and out of Dumbledore's room rapidly. Suddenly, the room stops as Hermione walks over to the calender on Dumbledore's empty desk.

"May 1993." She reads aloud, turning back around to face Draco in shock.


	2. Staying at the Shrieking Shack

"1993?" Draco asks, "What could he possibly want us to do this far back?!"

"He already told us Malfoy. We are to break the cabinet. A vanishing cabinet as you had called it. It is there in Diagon Alley somewhere." Hermione answered, trying to think. "But first, we have to get out of here..." She looked around the room, at the paintings on the walls of the different previous Headmasters and then the books. "There has to be a way..." She said, trying to focus her thoughts.

"Yea," Draco answers laying back on the couch there in Dumbledore's office, propping his feet up on the arm of the couch. "Just walk out."

"We can't just WALK out Draco," Hermione answers, "We are supposed to be second years. What if we run into someone? Or worse, into ourselves! Bad things happen to wizards who meddle with time."

"Shows what a great Headmaster the old koot is then." Draco answers with a snarl as he lay his head back. " 'Bad things happen to wizards who meddle with time'" He says, imitating Hermione's voice obnoxiously. "That just shows what he thinks of his students."

"Show some respect!" Hermione growls, knocking Draco's feet off of the arm of the couch before looking out the window, trying to think. They needed somewhere to stay. Somewhere that no one else would find them, or even think of finding them. She tried to imagine how fun that would be to explain to Arthur and Molly if they accidentally ran across them in Diagon Alley or at the Leaky Cauldron. They couldn't stay there overnight and here at Hogwarts wasn't an option either, at least not while school was still in session. If it was May still, which according to Dumbledore's calender it was, school didn't let out for another month. She couldn't help but feel at a loss.

"Take your own advice Granger," Draco snarls back. "Start learning how to respect your superiors!"

"Draco! That's it!" Hermione said excited. "The Shrieking Shack!"

"How does your sodding mind work?!" Draco asked confused as he sat up on the couch. "I tell you to respect your superiors and you bloody think to the Shrieking Shack!?"

Hermione sighs heavily as she sits next to Draco on the couch, putting a reasonable amount of distance between them. "Well, I was trying to think of where we could stay. We need somewhere." She says, "Whenever you said that about me respecting my superiors, it got me thinking. You had said that whenever Ron and I were looking at the Shrieking Shack, remember? Our third year."

Draco thought back to it, trying to remember exactly which instance Hermione was talking about before it clicked in his mind. He couldn't remember exactly the insult he had thrown at her on that specific day, normally the insults he threw at her just blended from one into another, but he did remember the snowballs getting thrown at him, Crabbe, and Nott afterwards as Nott was de-pantsed and and Draco was drug up the hill by his ankles.

"You remember what I told you that day?" He asked, his face having a look of confusion, raising an eyebrow.

"I have...a tendency to look at what others oftentimes overlook," Hermione answers, not wanting to brag. "It allows me to look past extraneous detail."

"Right?!" Draco answers, nodding his head. "Anyway Granger, where are we going then? That bloody shack?! Does it remind you of your husband's dream home?"

Hermione sighed again. "We can make this easy or it can be difficult Draco." She says firmly. "Personally, I would rather it be easy but the sooner we get it done, the sooner we can get back to 1996 and get on with living our lives and hating each other."

Draco thought on it, knowing the mudblood was right. "Fine," He said with a snarl. "And how are we going to get to the Shack?"

"Get some floo powder." Hermione says, looking over at the fireplace in Dumbledore's office. "I don't know if the Shrieking Shack's fireplace can be floo'ed to so tonight we will have to walk. We don't have any other options."

"Isn't that what I already said?! And get it yourself mudblood." Draco answers, refusing to be ordered around by someone who was of lesser standings than himself.

Hermione now knew this was going to be harder than she thought. "You need me Malfoy!" She said not wanting to argue with him and waste any more time, her face hardening as she walked over to the fireplace and reached into her bag. It seemed to go on forever with clothing and books. "Accio baggy." She said, a plastic bag coming out of the backpack and landing on the floor. She gathered up some of the floo powder, putting it in the baggy before tying it shut. "There." She said as she turned around to face Draco once again. "Now, we have to be careful on how we leave. If someone walks by, you have to hide in the shadows. We CAN'T be seen."

"Don't worry about me." Draco answers, causing Hermione to only worry more. "I can be sneaky."

"Of course you can." Hermione mumbles under her breath, throwing her backpack back on. "Let's go."

As they snuck out of Dumbledore's office and walked through the corridors, Hermione made sure to keep both an eye and an ear out for anyone who may be passing by. It was already dark and a Sunday, so Hermione figured it was probably close to 8 or 9 p.m, so the students should all still be in their Common Rooms.

"We could just obliviate them you know." Draco whispers, moping along behind Hermione.

"And risk it not completely working?" Hermione asked, "Or worse, them hexing us as we raise our wands to obliviate them? I would rather not."

Draco rolled his eyes, following behind her up one corridor and down another. "Do you even know where you are going mudblood?" He whispered again.

Hermione stopped, causing him to run into her back from not paying attention. As she turned around, Draco saw a fire of fury in her eyes. "Stop calling me that!" She said firmly, "And yes, as a matter of fact, I do know where we are going but I am taking the long way to keep us from getting caught, not that it will do me much good if you don't shut up!" She hissed, returning to walking forward.

Draco shook his head in fury, unable to believe she had just talked to him in that fashion. And he had agreed to joining her on this stupid mission. If it wasn't for the fact that Hermione had the time-turner and he needed to do this just in case it saved his mother, Draco knew he would have told her to sod off whenever they showed up an hour ago.

Suddenly, he hears it. The familiar sound of his father's pacing. He knew it was weird to recognize a man's footsteps as such but Draco could remember as a young child, long before his Hogwarts days, playing in front of the fireplace there in the Entrance Hall of the Manor as his mother watched his father pace in fury.

_"What do I tell them?" He hissed, looking at the floor while Narcissa sat in the chair watching him pace. Draco sat there silently in front of the fire, playing with a teddy bear Narcissa had just bought him and watched closely. "They are going to have me arrested!" He yells out, causing the young child to jump._

_"I don't know," Narcissa whispered, near tears herself. "Say you didn't mean to do it."  
_

_"And how am I supposed to do that?!" He growled back, turning around to re-walk the same ground he had only moments prior. "I can't exactly blame it on the Dark Lord."  
_

_"Say it was the Imperius Curse?" She offered softly.  
_

"Move!" Draco hissed under his breath as he felt sick to his stomach, grabbing Hermione by the arm and pulling her against the wall in the darkened corner as Lucius stormed past, his hair flying behind him as his feet hit the ground a little bit harder than what they should, making the sound of his fury all the more recognizable to Draco as Draco shivered in fear, hoping Hermione didn't sense it as their shoulders almost touched in the dark corner.

"He lost me my servant! My House Elf!" Lucius swore under his breath. "Over a sock! A sock!" He said, storming past, "He will pay for this!" He stormed past, causing Hermione and Draco to only wait there a moment longer, holding their breaths until he disappeared out of sight.

"What was that about?" Hermione asked whenever it was safe for them to move once more.

"Potter." Draco answered with a snarl as they left the castle, making their way towards the Whomping Willow. "He tricked my father into giving our House Elf a sock. Caused us to lose one of our best servants!" He hissed, reminding Hermione instantly of Lucius in the fury his words held.

"House Elves are not supposed to be servants!" Hermione stated, "They have feelings too!"

"They do not." Draco answered, "They are bred to be servants. It is all they are good for."

"IT IS NOT!" Hermione argued back, trying to keep her voice down as they approached the Whomping Willow. "Great..." She mummers, looking at it.

"What!" Draco snarls, still furious with her.

Hermione sighs deeply, trying to figure out how best to explain herself. "Last time I was here, we...we kind of had problems getting into the Whomping Willow." She says softly. "The tree attacked us."

Draco rolled his eyes, pointing his wand at it. "Immobilus!" He says, a blue light leaving his wand and hitting the tree dead in the center causing the tree to stop moving instantly.

Hermione couldn't help but tilt her head in shock, not quite wanting to compliment Draco and give him any more of a big head. "That works." She said, walking towards the tree where she remembered the hole being. She knew it was somewhere right there along the roots, a gap in between the roots but in the dark it was hard to see. "Lumos." She whispers, causing her wand to give off a very dim bit of light as she continued to walk around the tree. "Here it is." She whispers, "Come on."

Quickly she jumps down the hole, Draco following after her. The slid down to the basement of the Shack, Hermione quickly dusting herself off. "Why did we choose here again?" Draco asked, looking around the Shack for the first time disgusted. Dust and cobwebs covered the floor, walls, and ceiling. It looked as though the building hadn't been touched in years, decades possibly. The walls were browned with age and there wasn't a single door or window in the entire building. Never in his life had Draco been so disgusted.

"Do you have a better idea?" Hermione asks, slightly frustrated at Draco's constant complaining. He couldn't help but stay speechless, not having any other options. "Come on." She said walking up the stairs, using her wand to light the way up to where she remembered the bedroom sitting. Second door on the right, she told herself walking in there in shock. "This isn't right." She said.

"What isn't right?" Draco asked, looking around the room at the single four poster bed, still made as if no one had slept in it. Once again, the room was covered in dust and cobwebs, leaving it feeling slightly cold and drafty despite the fact that it was May.

"There is supposed to be a second bed here." Hermione says, looking in the room. "There were two beds our third year. One right here," She said, pointing at the four-poster bed. "And one here." She said, pointing at the opposite corner of the room. "Two beds. One for each of us."

"What Granger? Am I not good enough for you to sleep next to?!" He asked, snarling his nose at the thought and yet still offended that she felt the need to sleep separate.

"That's not the point." Hermione says back, blushing softly. "There are supposed to be two beds. There are. Ron sat on this one when we were here with Sirius and Remus." She says, pointing to the empty spot on the floor. "And Harry hexed Snape onto that one." She continues, pointing at the only bed in the room. "There were two beds, I know it. There are supposed to be two beds."

"Merlin Granger, if it's that sodding important!" Draco answers, pointing his wand at the empty corner, conjuring up a second bed next to the fireplace that looked identical to the one Hermione had seen before. "There, you have a blasted bed!" He said, just wanting her to shut up.

"Oh," Hermione answers, recognizing the bed automatically. "Ummm...thank you." She said softly, still in shock that the bed looked identical. She looked up at Draco before breaking eye contact immediately. "I guess I'll sleep here." She says, looking down at the mattress on the floor, still trying to figure out why it wasn't there before.

"Still think you are too good to sleep next to me then Granger?" He asked with a smirk.

"I didn't say that!" Hermione argues back. "I was simply saying...there were supposed to be two beds. And now there are." Looking over at the fireplace, she points her wand as she tries to take her mind off the fact that Draco Malfoy had just offered for them to share a bed. Or the fact that she was alone in a building with him. "Incendio." She says, lighting the fireplace with a fire that looked as though it had been lit hours ago and kept burning.

"So, now what?" Draco asks, looking at the fireplace as he sat at the foot of his bed.

"We need to focus on getting to Diagon Alley." Hermione says firmly. "And finding the Vanishing Cabinet."

"My second year, there was one in Borgin and Burkes." Draco answers, "I went there with my father."

"That's on Knockturn Alley, isn't it?" Hermione asks, unsure of herself having never been there. Draco nods his head. "Okay, well we can't go there looking as ourselves. We need to look like someone else. A Polyjuice Potion."

"And who would we look like?" Draco asks her as if she were supposed to come up with all the answers. Hermione sits down on the mattress on the floor that was now her bed, staring at the floor. She replayed the prophecy in her head. _Find the twin...break the box...brew a potion for wooly socks..._

"THAT'S IT!" Hermione yells. "What was it your dad was saying as he left? Socks?" She asked.

"Yea," Draco answers, "Potter tricked my father into giving our House Elf a sock. We lost him as a servant because of it."

"Find the twin. We did that, it's in Borgin and Burkes. Break the box, we need to do that still but we have to have a disguise. Brew a potion for wooly socks. Draco, we have to brew a Polyjuice Potion and have you look like your father."

Draco looked at Hermione. Him look and act like his father. She had to be mad. It was too dangerous with his father being a Death Eater. It was too easy to run into the wrong people, get asked the wrong questions. There was no way they would be able to pull this off. "You are mad." He said, not a single hint of teasing or harassment in his voice as his eyes held fear. "Even for a mudblood."


	3. Knowing Others

"No," Hermione answers, "We have to go in undercover as Lucius." She says focused. "And...and..."

"You are not getting a single hair of mine." Draco answers stubbornly, looking at her. "It is suicide, disguising as a...a.."

"A Death Eater Draco." Hermione answers, shaking her head. "You can say it, your father has already been arrested for it."

"He hasn't yet." Draco says firmly. "We went back in time Granger. My father is still innocent as of right now." He says placing himself firmly on the belief, despite how false it sounded even to him.

"Your father was never innocent." Hermione says, proving a valid point that even Draco didn't want to face. His eyes looked down at his lap as he realized that Hermione was right.

"And what do I do if he is summoned?" Draco asks forcefully. "If someone asks him about something he's doing with work at the Ministry or...or..." Draco had gotten so used to not being able to say what his father did for a living. Up until about a day ago, or...in about three years, Draco thought to himself in confusion, he had always had to keep who his father worked for a secret, never being able to explain to his friends (other than Crabbe, Goyle, and Nott, whose parents were in a similar boat) where his father was whenever they came over to visit. Now, it nearly felt unrealistic to talk to anyone about it, much less Granger who was friends with Potter.

"If someone asks about his Dark Mark?" Hermione asks, raising an eyebrow as if it were obvious what Draco was referencing to.

"No Granger!" He snarls back. "I meant what if he is asked about something with the Board of Governors!" He bit back defensively.

"I didn't know the Board of Governors got summoned." Hermione mumbles to herself as she looks through the backpack that was given to her by Dumbledore. It contained their potions books, most likely from the prophecy stating something needed brewed, a Defense Against Dark Arts book, and their most recent Charms and Transfiguration books and Moste Potent Potions. Also inside the bag contained clothes that would properly fit Hermione and a few things that were just random clothes that wouldn't. She looked at Draco before sighing heavily. "See," Hermione answers matter-of-factly. "Dumbledore wants us to make the Polyjuice Potion. Otherwise why would he give us more than one Potions book."

"It's too dangerous," Draco answers, "and it's foolish to try to do. Besides, doesn't that take a month to brew?" He asked, smirking as he knew the answer while Hermione continued to look through the Moste Potent Potions book.

"Yes it does." Hermione answers, "and we don't have any of the ingredients but..." She said, digging through the backpack once more. "We have these." She said, holding up two plastic bags, one Draco recognized the coins as Galleons.

"Brilliant." He answered with a sigh, "And what are those?" He asked, looking at the other bag with unfamiliarity.

"These," She said with a happy smile. "These are pounds, muggle money." Draco snarled his nose, causing Hermione to finally get tired of his attitude. "Well, we have to eat somehow Draco! And we can't exactly go down to Hogsmeade or Diagon Alley!"

"I am NOT eating muggle food." Draco huffed. "Disgusting. May as well sit and eat with House Elves!"

Hermione sighed again, tired of having done nothing productive since she got there due to Draco's narcissism. "Fine," She answered. "You can starve! I am going to eat tomorrow morning whether you do or not!" She huffed, sticking her nose up in the air before returning back to the book in front of her. "Okay, so I can get the knotgrass." She said, knowing it was local. "I can get the Bicorn horn in the Forbidden Forest, carefully of course but I have to wait until the fourth of June for the fluxweed. It should grow right near the Whomping Willow though and..." Hermione ran the list, running her finger down the single column of ingredients as she did up the math in her head. Lacewing Flies were 6 for two galleons. Leeches were 8 for six galleons. The Boomslang skin they would have to sneak out of Snape's private storage.

"What are you doing?" Draco asked, looking at her confused as she stared off into space, conjuring up a plan.

"We need eight galleons." She said, reaching into the bag Dumbledore had left them, taking out the eight galleons. "That should be enough for all the ingredients I can get at the Apothecary."

"And how are you planning on getting there?" Draco smirked, knowing he was right. "We can't go out. _Someone might recognize us."_ He mimicked with a laugh as Hermione grabbed her wand quickly, pointing it at Draco as he started to shake nervously. "You...you need me Granger..." He said fearfully. "We...we are su...supposed to do this together."

"I know," Hermione answers, "MULTICORFORS!" She said, causing Draco to jump as his hair to shorten and turn a dark brown. "We can't look like ourselves. This will cover us up long enough to make purchases but this won't work nearly as long as the Polyjuice Potion would." She said with a sigh of defeat wishing it lasted longer. It would make everything so much easier. She looks down at herself before repeating the spell on herself, causing her hair to go into a shortened pixie cut and change to a light blonde color. "It's not much of a disguise but it'll work for now."

Draco followed her, dragging his feet as the two of them used the secret passageway on the fourth floor of Hogwarts to get to Hogsmeade. "We only have thirty minutes before the charm wears off." Hermione says calmly. "But so long as we can get back into the passageway by then we should be fine."

Draco nods his head in understanding. "Look," He says, pointing to a bright green building. "The Magic Neep. All we need are Leeches and Lacewing Flies, right? They should have those."

"Yea," Hermione answers, "Hopefully. I think that's where Snape gets some of his stuff when he needs more supplies in a hurry. I have seen him go in there once or twice."

As the duo walked into the store, Hermione looked around quickly, dashing over to the insects department as Draco looked around the shelving. "Excuse me sir." He said with a sly smile, talking to the store keep while Hermione searched frantically for the Lacewing Flies.

"Yes?" The store keep asked, looking Draco over. "Aren't you a bit young to be out this late?" He asked suspiciously, raising an eyebrow.

"Actually, my name is Terrance Higgs, pureblood." Draco answered with a smile, causing Hermione to turn her head quickly in shock. "I finished Hogwarts last year and this is my sister." He said as smooth as if he had been saying it his entire life. "Teresa Higgs. Slytherin right?" He asked, looking at the store keep with a smile.

"Why yes." The store keep answered a bit happier now as Hermione looked at Draco in confusion, trying to figure out what he was doing. This wasn't the time to be chatting away. "How did you know?" The older man asked him curiously.

"One Slytherin to another, we can tell." Draco answered with a smile, looking down at the man's left forearm before back into his eyes. "Now, I was wondering..." He said as if looking around the glass cabinets for an item. "I am in need of something. Something special." He said, a small smile forming on the edges of his lips as he looks back up.

"Maybe you should come back to the back of my shop Mr. Higgs," The shop keep answered, causing Hermione to look even more confused. NO, she told herself, NO! NO! NO! This wasn't the way it was supposed to work! They were on a time limit! They couldn't be mingling with everyone they saw. She looked around frantically before looking back at the shelves and then back at the doorway Draco had gone through.

"Pleasure doing business with you sir," Draco said with a smile, shaking the shop keep's hand before turning around with a bag in hand. "OH!" He said, turning back around and setting a Galleon from his pocket on the counter. "For your time." He said with a sly wink before walking out of the shop, Hermione quickly following.

"WHAT WAS that about?" Hermione asked fiercely. "We didn't even get what we came for! And lying about your name?! What if he knew Terrance Higgs? Then what would you have done?" She said frantically. "That was NOT how this was supposed to work." She said frantically.

"Granger," Draco says calmly. "Please shut up."

Hermione stopped in her tracks, unable to do much more than stare at him in shock. "Well, I never-" She said finally, catching up to him. "You don't understand! We have a plan! And if we don't stick by that plan, we could get caught! We could get arrested!" She says again, playing it out in her head. "We could...we could get killed Malfoy!"

"Do you even listen to yourself?" Draco asked with a casual sarcasm as he walked into Honeydukes, quickly making his way to the secret passage in the back.

"What do you mean!?" Hermione bit back as they entered the passageway.

"Look in the bag." Draco answered, tossing it to her. Hermione quickly opened the paper bag, finding four bottles of Polyjuice Potion. Each one having a stamp on it.

"From the Apothecarium of Horace E. F. Slughorn." She read out loud. "But how?"

"It helps to know who father works with." Draco answers with a smirk. "Come on Granger. We have a Vanishing Cabinet to break."


	4. Trusting Time

The two returned back to the Shrieking Shack, barely making it back on Hogwarts grounds before the Multicorfors charm wore off and Hermione's hair grew back to it's normal length, fading back into its natural brown color. Draco's changed back not long afterwards and as they approached the Whomping Willow, turning the white shade that it normally held as it grew out slightly longer, returning to it's normal style.

As they walked into the shack, Hermione quickly returned to the mattress on the floor. "Tomorrow we will have to get some hairs from your father." She says, looking at the Polyjuice Potion. "Any ideas on how?" She asks softly, still shocked that Draco had saved them the extra time by purchasing the Polyjuice Potion, even if it was dangerous.

"You are dead set on using my father, aren't you Granger?" Draco asks, shaking his head at the risks.

"That's what the Prophecy said." Hermione answers. "Brew a potion for wooly socks."

Draco sighed in defeat, knowing there was no talking her out of it. "Fine," He says firmly. "But who are you going to take the potion and become? You can't be me, I am still in school."

Hermione thought on it a moment. Bellatrix was still in Azkaban and Draco was right, it would look suspicious if he was in Knockturn Alley whenever he was supposed to be at Hogwarts. It would raise future questions from others to Lucius. She tried to focus. They couldn't know exactly where another Death Eater was going to be at the time to change into one of them and inter-species prevented her from becoming a House Elf. "What about your mother?" She finally asks, not having any other ideas. "She's pretty much our only option."

"My father would never take my mother into Borgin and Burkes." Draco hissed, a look of disgust on his face. "It is a place where father does business. My mother does not belong there. She never questions my father's work and he never drags her into it."

"We don't have any other options." Hermione answers, not knowing what else to say. "It is either I take the potion to look like you, which I don't even know if that would work because it may turn me into you now, which does us absolutely no good and is way too risky, or I take it to become your mother."

Draco huffs, knowing Hermione was right. He didn't know of a single Death Eater who was out of town. Anyone who his father would go in there with other than himself or another Death Eater and it was too risky stunning one of them with the Dark Lord being a legimens and finding out. "Fine," He says in defeat, not liking where this was headed at all. "We'll do it." He said as he climbed into bed, covering himself up. "But you have to learn how to close your mind Granger." He said, not wanting them to get caught. "You never know who is a legimens, especially in Knockturn Alley."

"Fine," Hermione answers firmly, covering herself up as she lay her head on her pillow. "Nox."

The lights turned out, leaving Draco laying in the darkness as he wonder what exactly he was getting himself into. He wished it were easy enough for him to just tell Granger forget it and move back to 1996. It seemed a lot less risky at this point but she had the time- Wait! Granger had the time-turner! Draco could simply take it, move forward in time and lie. Say Granger was dead, say that he had broken the Vanishing Cabinet but had gotten caught in the process. He could claim the Death Eaters got ahold of Hermione and were going to torture them both and he got free. It was genius and by the time he got caught...maybe by the time he got caught, he would be done with school. Granger would have to catch up with time, three years. By that time, Draco would be done with Hogwarts, never turning back to face the blasted school again. Or even better, the entire bloody war would be over and he would be such a hero for breaking the pathetic cabinet that no one would care that he had left Hermione in the past. It had to work.

Draco sat there in the silence, working the plan out in his head as he listened to Hermione's breathing, waiting for it to regulate into a constant state of sleep. It was only a matter of time before he was done with this stupid mission. His mother would still be safe, the muggle-loving Dumbledore wouldn't know the difference in if the cabinet was broken or not, and he could live life like normal, without the mudblood in his way.

As Hermione's breathing went off to timed deep breathing Draco smiled, climbing out of bed. He knew he had to be quiet as he snuck over, kneeling down beside Hermione's bed. The necklace lay around her neck, only where the chain touched her neck being exposed. Reaching down, Draco gently touched where the chain wasn't directly on her neck, the dips where her neck met her shoulders. He knew he had to be careful with this, gently lifting the necklace up so that the chain didn't drag along her skin as he slowly pulled the chain towards her face, bringing the time-turner closer to the surface. As Hermione took a deep breath, Draco froze in fear and silence. If she were to wake up now, what would he say? What could he say? That he wanted to see the time-turner for himself? That he wanted to be closer to Hermione? He sat there in fear, not letting go of the golden chain as he waited patiently for Hermione's breathing to return to normal, the light reflecting off of her face.

Once Hermione's breathing returned to a steady pace, reminding Draco that she had in fact drifted back off to sleep, he pulled up a little bit slower. He bit his bottom lip in concentration, trying to focus on not waking her as the time-turner finally exposed itself from beneath her shirt. He lifted it up on the chain, unsure of how to get it from behind her neck as he stared at it.

The set of metal circles were just a bit too big to fit in the palm of his hand when he tried to close it, each circle slightly smaller than the last with an hour glass in the center. It really was a special piece. Something Draco had never seen before as he thought of what the Death Eaters would do if they could get their hands on a piece as special as this. He shuddered in fear at the thought as he moved the time-turner, flipping it over in his hand to see either side with detail.

There were words on it, on each circle. He moved his face closer to look at them, reading the outer circle. _I mark the hours, every one. Nor have I yet outrun the sun._ He then read the middle circle. My_ use and value, unto you, Are gauged by what you have to do. _I have to get back to 1996, he thought to himself, how's that for value?

Draco couldn't help but look back at Hermione one last time as he tried to think of how to get it off of her neck. He let out a heavy sigh as the fire in the fireplace lit a soft glow on Hermione's skin, almost mesmerizing Draco as she slept. _For a mudblood,_ he thought to himself, _she really isn't that bad. Not that I would ever tell her that. She just...she isn't like my father made them out to seem. He said they are dirty, filthy beings. Ones who are less than us, dim. Granger don't seem that way though. I have never seen her 'filthy', although she is quite pathetic for hanging out with Potter._ _And for being dim, she sure is analyzing this prophecy closely. Who would have ever thought 'brewing a potion for wooly socks' would be talking about my father after all. _ He sighed heavily as he faced a difficult decision. To leave Hermione Granger or wait and see what she had planned and for the first time, possibly ever in Draco Malfoy's life, he was siding with helping the mudblood. Softly, he sets the necklace back down on her shirt as he walked back over and crawled into his own bed.

"This better be worth it Granger." He whispers, looking over at her sleeping body one last time before rolling over and facing the wall to go to sleep.


	5. Wandless Wonders

The following morning, Draco woke up to Hermione already up and dressed.

"Put these on," She said as he sat up in bed, tossing him a red shirt and jeans. "You have to look ordinary...or," She looks up at his light blonde hair knowing he would stand out anyway. "as ordinary as possible."

"What are these for? And ordinary how?" Draco asks in confusion, looking down at the clothes. There was no way he, especially looking like his father, wasn't going to stand out wearing jeans and a shirt. His father always dressed in no less than the finest robes. And Hermione, who was now wearing a striped long-sleeved shirt and blue jeans, looked nothing like what his mother would. She wouldn't be caught dead in something that looked so...muggle, so lower class.

"Well, I figured we could go get something to eat first." Hermione answers, "and since it would be obvious if we ate somewhere around _here_ when we are not even supposed to be here, Dumbledore gave us pounds to use."

"Pounds?" Draco asked in confusion at the term. "That makes no sense Granger. How are those supposed to help us? What are those, even?"

"Muggle money," Hermione answered as Draco took off his shirt and threw another one on. He didn't see as Hermione looked down uncomfortably, blushing slightly at the sight of Draco's defined biceps from years of Quidditch. "They are...umm...we are..." She looked back up at him in a fluster from the thought of him half-naked in front of her. "We are going to eat at a muggle restaurant."

"No, no. WE are not." Draco answers firmly. "I am not stepping foot in a filthy muggle building. Who knows what kind of...filth...they have there." He argued.

"Fine!" Hermione answers, her face determined. "I guess I'm eating alone then." She said as she picked up a handful of floo powder and stepped into the fireplace.

"What about me?!" He says, shocked that she would just leave him there without food.

"Well," Hermione says, thinking about it momentarily. "You can either come with me or you can go without breakfast. It's your choice."

"Fine, I'll go." He answers, still in awe that she would leave him. "But if I catch anything..."

"You can blame me." Hermione answers, rolling her eyes as he got into the fireplace with her. "The Leaky Cauldron." She says firmly, taking Draco's hand as the green fire surrounds them, taking them into the Leaky Cauldron. "Don't make eye contact." She whispers as she pulls him through the dark and shabby pub out into the streets of Muggle London. As they get out into the street, she sighs with relief. They were safe, no one noticed them.

"Now where to Granger?" Draco asks, yanking his hand out of hers before she could notice that it was sweating.

"This way," Hermione says firmly, taking him to the right of the Leaky Cauldron to a small cafe. The bell above the door dings as they walk in, Draco quickly looking around in disgust. The hardwood floors looked clean enough but the chairs, which had the old-fashioned metal backs on them and a simple black leather seat, sat on either side of the light pink tables forcing Draco and Hermione to sit close as they looked around at the white walls. Neither of them said a word as Hermione handed him a menu to look at.

"Can I help you?" A young waitress, not looking much older than Draco and Hermione themselves, asked. Her hair was up in a blonde ponytail as she chewed sloppily on a piece of gum and stared at Draco. Hermione knew this was a bad idea, that Draco stood out too much in a crowd for them to go somewhere muggle. His hair gave away the fact that this wasn't somewhere he belonged. She should have just brought food back to the Shrieking Shack, but she wanted to show him that muggles weren't everything he thought they were.

"A cappuccino." Hermione says politely as Draco stares at the menu. "And a muffin." She watched as the young waitress wrote down her order on her notepad.

"And for you?" The waitress asks, smacking her gum again.

"Two hotcakes." Draco answers, putting down the menu. "And a pumpkin juice."

"A what?!" The waitress asks, a bit of a tone in her voice as she raised her eyebrow at him in disgust.

"Orange Juice." Hermione interrupts quickly. "Sorry, my friend here is from out of town. He would like an orange juice."

"Kay," The waitress answers, writing it down before walking to the back of the cafe, leaving Draco and Hermione alone again.

"They don't have pumpkin juice?" Draco asks, as if that made going to a muggle cafe that much worse.

"No, they don't." Hermione answers, trying to stay discrete. "That is a...a Hogwarts thing." She says softly, not wanting to tell him where they could be overheard that pumpkin juice was only available in the wizarding world. "So how are we going to do it?" She asks softly, leaning closer to him so they couldn't be overheard. "How are we going to get the hair?"

"I was hoping you had an idea." Draco says, still scrunching his nose up at the cafe.

"Will you stop that?" Hermione groans, "Okay, I realize that you aren't happy about eating here, but we are limited on options. Your father is gone all day, right?" She asks, playing possible scenarios in her head.

"If you are thinking about sneaking into my parents home, you are more mad than I thought." Draco answers before the waitress brings their food and drinks back to them, placing everything in its proper place and putting the ticket down on the table face down.

The two teens eat silently, each one focusing on their food instead of the conversation they had just been having. Draco looks down at the orange juice, shocked at how good it really did taste. Maybe some of these muggle things weren't so bad after all, their drinks at least. As Hermione pays for their food and the two of them walk out, Draco looks over at her.

"That really wasn't that bad." He says before realizing that he was nearly complimenting muggle food. "For being mud-made food, I mean." He adds on quickly. Hermione nods her head, trying to hide a smirk on her face as she leads Draco back to the Leaky Cauldron and floo's them back to the Shrieking Shack.

* * *

"Focus Draco," Hermione says to him with determination as they stand in the basement of the Shrieking Shack, a vial on the other side of the room. "It is wandless magic, but magic all the same."

"I am focusing!" Draco hollers back in frustration. "It's not that easy."

"You aren't focusing hard enough. Just picture it coming to you. You don't even have to do a swish-and-flick for a summoning spell." She says, looking from him to the vial. "Just see it coming to you as you think the words. I'll show you-"

"You don't have to show me MUDBLOOD!" Draco yells out in fury, feeling as though he were a young child being criticized by his father once again. "I can do it on my own!"

"Do it then." Hermione answers, deciding to ignore the degrading term he had just called her. She knew he was only saying it out of frustration.

_Accio vial, _Draco told himself firmly. _Accio Vial. Accio Vial. Accio Vial. _ He watched as the vial shook slightly, not moving from where it was, causing him to curse under his breath as he sighed in defeat.

"Okay," Hermione answers softly. She had hoped he would have been able to do it this time. That he would have been able to retrieve the vial. "Let's take a break and work on the occlumency then."

"Close your mind." Draco warns her as Hermione thinks about what secrets she had to keep from him. Harry's dreams for sure. He couldn't know about them, just in case. She also couldn't let him find out about...well, he already knew about the D.A., and about Voldermort's return. She quickly put the conversation about Harry's dreams to the back of her mind as Draco stared into her eyes, entering her mind.

_"__I'm going to bed before either of you come up with another idea to get us killed, or worse; expelled._"

_"__Are you sure that's a real spell? Well, it's not very good is it? I've tried a few simple spells myself and they've all worked for me._"

_"Vill you go to the Yule Ball vith me Hermy-own-ninny?"_

"Pathetic," Draco answered with a snarl, "and I'm surprised you haven't shown me you snogging Weasel-bee yet."

"His name is Ron!" Hermione shot back defensively. "And we have never snogged!"

"Obviously," Draco snaps back, "because I can see everything in your mind. Close it Granger, I can read you like one of your damned books!"

"You can not!" Hermione answers boldly. "Watch, try again."

Draco's eyes met hers as she fought against him forcefully, trying to ignore the pain right behind her eyes as she tried to fight against him entering her mind.

_"You foul, loathsome, evil little cochroach!"_

_"__At least no one on the Gryffindor team had to buy their way in. _They_ got in on pure talent._"  
"Flipendo," Hermione says firmly, not wanting Draco to see too much. Quickly he flies back against the wall, hitting it hard as his wand flies a good two feet away from.

Draco, now immediately in dueling mode, looks at his wand. _Accio wand! _He thinks with force as the wand quickly comes to his hand and he stares at it in shock.

"Draco! You did it!" Hermione hollers, running up to him quickly and hugging him. "You did it! You used wandless magic!"

Draco smirked lightly, "I did, didn't I?" He said as he stared down at his wand in his hand. "You can let go of me now Granger." He said, the smirk never leaving his face as Hermione pulled away with a blush. "Thanks though."


	6. Moste Potente Plans

Hermione spent the rest of the evening trying to focus on closing her mind randomly as Draco paced the room they were sharing, trying to think of how to get the hairs from his parents. There had to be a way to get a hair from the one man who never allowed anyone to touch him. In fact, in all the years Draco had known his father, never once did he ever remember the man allowing Draco to touch him other than for side-by-side apparation. Something had to give though, there had to be a way to get one of his father's hair, a single one, even if Draco didn't know right now what it was.

While Draco tried to piece together how to get a hold of one of his father's hairs, Hermione laid on her stomach on her bed, her feet up in the air as she interested herself with some recreational reading. _An Aging__ Potion is a potion which causes the drinker to become older. The more of an aging potion the drinker drinks, the older they will become. For example, only drinking a drop of the potion will only age the drinker by a few months. The effects of the Aging Potion are only temporary, wearing off withing a few hours to a few days depending on how much of the aging potion has been drunk and whether or not the potion was brewed correctly. When done properly, this potion will be a dark burgundy color._ _  
_

Hermione fought against sleep as she felt her eyelids growing heavy. _There is a debate amongst Potioneers, _Hermione lays her head down on the book, now reading it at an angle as she watched words in her book blur together, blinking her eyes to try and clear up the words before they blurred up again. Closing her eyes again, a little bit slower, she opened them up, only to feel them getting heavier as they slowly drifted shut once again as she fell asleep.

Draco couldn't help but continue to pace as he tried to focus his thoughts. Something had to work. There had to be a way to do this. What would- Draco's thoughts stop as he turns back around, seeing Hermione laying down on her stomach, sleeping peacefully on top of her 'Moste Potente Potions' book.

"Merlin Granger," He says with a frustrated sigh, "How are we supposed to get anything done if you're falling asleep all the sodding time?!"

Walking over to her, Draco looks down at Hermione sleeping, shaking his head as he watched her body raise and drop with her breathing softly. He didn't understand it. She drove him crazy when she was awake. Her insufferable know-it-all attitude. Her obsession with playing everything by the rules and being overly careful. But when she slept, everything seemed different. She looked innocent, peaceful. He couldn't explain it but the way she had the lightest freckles across the bridge of her nose, almost invisible unless you looked closely, the way her staticy crazy hair fell around her face when she slept, almost as if she were laying her head on a fluffy cloud. Something about it all just made her look perfect. Draco found himself unable to look away.

"You sleep like this and you are going to be miserable. Then, guess who has to deal with your attitude from it!?" Draco says, shaking his head. "Look at me Granger, I'm talking to you like you can hear me." He says in disbelief, even to himself as he rolls her over onto her back before reaching underneath her shoulder blades and the bends of her knees, picking her up. Finding it awkward to try and reposition her on the smaller twin size mattress laying there on the floor, Draco looked over at the four-poster queen sized bed that he had been sleeping on instead.

"Fair enough Granger, but don't get used to it." He says before looking down at her, still fast asleep and shaking his head. It was so much harder to be an arse to her when she wasn't even awake enough to answer. Walking over to the larger bed, his bed, he laid her down on the sheets, covering her up gently to her neck. "That will be much more comfortable for sleeping." He said with a sigh before walking back to the mattress on the floor and grabbing Moste Potente Potions. Recreational reading, he thought to himself with a smirk as he looked down at it. Who reads a textbook recreationally? But at least she wasn't like Pansy, reading those pathetic romance novels. Like any man would ever act like that.

He looked down at the words of the book, the potion Hermione was currently reading caused his eyes to light up. That was it. It was brilliant, genius even. He only had a few hours, as he looked down at his watch, gold encrusted with diamonds marking where the numbers normally sat. Only a handful of hours before Hermione would be waking up, returning her nose to this blasted book to see what she could find out for the mission.

Quickly he ran over to the fireplace, grabbing a handful of floo powder before stepping into the brick passageway. Good thing about living in one of the biggest wizarding homes in England, there was a fireplace in every room of the house and the only one that was used more than the fireplace in his father's study was the one he was going to.

"Malfoy Kitchen." Draco said clearly, knowing that was the one place his parents would never step foot in the Manor. _A place for servants._ His father had repeated time and time again as Draco grew up in the Manor and it was still as right as ever, for right now, he felt like Dumbledore's servant.


	7. Hairy Situations with House Elves

**A/N: Warning: Next chapter will be slightly lemony...more like Lemonade... You have been warned. **

Draco floo'd with ease into the darkened kitchen of his own home. Never before had he had to sneak into the Manor but desperate times called for desperate measures, as his father would say. The kitchen looked the same as it had the last time Draco had been in there, two years in the future, as odd as that felt.

He had floo'd into the giant rock fireplace, big enough to floo half of the Slytherins into at once, and walked out with pride, looking around the kitchen.

"Filthy," He mumbles to himself in disgust. "The only thing that belongs here are servants." He says, snarling his nose at the darkened room, no more lit than the rest of the Manor. Deep cauldrons for holding soups and stews were set up neatly on either side of the fireplace, with a bread oven built into the far wall on the other side of the room, giving it a nice warm glow and filling the room with a comfortable heat. The smell of the bread, most likely baking for his mother and father to have with breakfast in the morning, comforted Draco, reminding him of how much he already missed being home and was ready to get this mission over with, that way he could return.

A large grill sat built into the wall on the right side of the kitchen, it being nearly as big as the queen sized bed Hermione was currently sleeping on as Draco worked over-time. It was basic, wizarding, having only metal rods to hold the food, (be it that his father was in the mood for herring, quail, or even the occasional boar) and was surrounded by a rock encasement, leaving the heat from the bare fire only upward to move and warm the food. There was also a small door, only big enough for a House Elf, that was used to put fresh coals in to raise the temperature of the oven.

It felt familiar to Draco once more, a more disgusting aspect of the Manor, but home none-the-less. Draco walked across the kitchen to a wash basin, washing off his hands and face from soot before walking to a small door off of the kitchen.

The door was petite, only about a meter tall, a pine door that was splintered with age and still unfinished with the basic medieval knocker on it for whenever one of the members of the Malfoy household needed the elves for whatever reason. Draco didn't knock on the door, instead kicking it hard once as if even the entrance to the servant quarters was contaminated with the filth of the House Elves that lived behind the miniature door.

A smaller House Elf, one that only stood at about 80 centimeters with a small, button-like nose and ears that stood straight up, like those of a rabbit answered the door. Her eyes, already wide and doe-like, grew even wider at the sight of an older Draco Malfoy in front of her than what she had expected. He wasn't supposed to look like this, she reminded herself. He was supposed to be younger, closer to their height than his father's.

His face was leaner than the last time she had seen him before his parents had sent him off for his second year at Hogwarts. His hair was no longer sleeked back like the House Elf was used to seeing, now longer and parted. It was no longer greased and perfect, instead having a silky smooth texture to it as her master now held a taller, leaner...possibly even more manly look to him.

"Young Master Malfoy?" The House Elf asked in confusion. "Young Master seems to have hit a growth spurt from what Kritter can see."

"No need to be fresh." Draco answers with a snarl, looking down at his servant in disgust. "It was an Aging Potion gone wrong, one that filthy mudblood did." He says, spitting out the words. "You are going to help me."

"Yes Master," Kritter answers, "Kritter is here to serve Young Master. Kritter will do whatever Kritter must to help Young Master."

"Of course you will," He says hatefully. "That's what I just told you to do. Now shut up and listen." He orders, causing the House Elf's mouth to seal shut. "You are going to get me a single hair from my mother and a single hair from my father. Then, you are going to bring them to the Shrieking Shack outside Hogwarts and deliver them to me. My parents are NOT to hear about this. Do I make myself clear, Kritter?"

"Mmhmmhmmhmm." Kritter says, fighting against the sealed lips to try and speak.

"Oh sodding hell," Draco swears in frustration at the House Elf. Stupid creatures, they were. Unable to disobey anything their Master commanded. It made to be very convenient at times, whenever they weren't trying to work their way around the rules as Dobby had, but other times it seemed like more hassle than good. "You can talk."

"Yes, Young Master. Kritter will bring Young Master the hairs. Kritter will collect the hairs from Master Malfoy and Mistress Malfoy tomorrow morning. Kritter will bring the hairs to Young Master tomorrow after Master Malfoy and Mistress Malfoy have lunch. Kritter will bring the hairs to the Shrieking Shack. Kritter will not tell Master Malfoy and Mistress Malfoy about Kritter helping Young Master."

"Good," Draco answered, already frustrated with the House Elf's lack of pronouns in the way that she spoke. "Now go back into your hole in the wall. Back to whatever it was that you were doing." He said in disgust as he watched the House Elf open the door, reentering the tiny room on the other side, wearing nothing but a dirty potato sack to cover her tiny body which was mostly skin and bones.

Draco shook his head before walking back over to the over-sized fireplace and floo'ing back to the Shrieking Shack.


	8. Frustrations andFrustrations

As Draco stepped out of the fireplace, he dusted off his shoulder and looked over to see Hermione just starting to stir awake. He wasn't quite sure how he was going to explain that he'd already gotten the hairs that they needed but he knew that she would not be pleased at his recklessness.

"Mmmmm...Draco?" Hermione moaned out sleepily as she rubbed the sleep from her eye. "You're already awake?" Her voice was groggy as she looked around, waking up suddenly as her eyes got wide with realization. "Why am I in YOUR bed?"

"You fell asleep reading one of your damnable books again. I put you in MY bed because it was too difficult getting you into YOUR bed since its on the floor. That's the last time I do it too, Granger. I'm already going to have to burn the sheets since you slept in them," Draco said, shaking his head but secretly smiling to himself that she was too distracted to realized what he'd been up to.

"You know, it's probably more realistic just to wash them." She answers, rolling her eyes. She couldn't help but be relieved though. At least that meant that she hadn't...no, she definitely would have remembered if she had shared a bed with Draco Malfoy, that's for sure. "And besides, just because we aren't at Hogwarts doesn't mean I don't have to get my studying in. We will be in N.E.W.T. level classes next year." She said as she got out of bed, looking over at him as she raised an eyebrow. "You're still in the same clothes?"

Draco froze in place as she mentioned his clothing. He'd forgotten to change them before he left and now she would know something was up. As he continued moving after his momentary pause he replied, "Well I was busy last night so I haven't had the chance to change them yet. Besides what do you care what clothes I'm wearing?" Hoping that he would distract her from her current train of thought. If nothing else he figured he'd tell her she'd yell and then he'd yell and then it'd be over so might as well get the argument out of the way now. It would be just like his mother and father arguing at home. One big happy family.

"It's just weird." She answers, walking over to her backpack and grabbing some clean clothes. There was no point in arguing with someone like him. It was, as her mum would put it, like bleeding a turnip trying to get information out of someone like him. "So, did you think of any ways to get the hair?" She asks casually.

Draco sighed knowing he'd might as well get it over with just so she didn't send them chasing after something he'd already gotten his hands on. Turning around and crossing his arm he replied, "I already got them. Last night I went to the family manor, slipped in, grabbed the hairs and slipped back out. So that's one less thing we have to worry about." Lying was best. He was already going to get screamed at for even going to the Manor but to tell her that he was still waiting on the hairs was a totally new can of worms that he didn't want to open. He turned back around waiting for her to start screaming at his back about how foolish he'd been and what a stupid risk he'd taken as he began taking out clean clothes to change into.

"Draco!" Hermione starts in, as expected. "Do you realize how risky that is? What if one of them would have- wait...you have the hairs? You have them now?" She asked, suddenly attentive.

"Of course. That was what I said, wasn't it? I got them last night and no I didn't get caught. Your not going deaf, are you Granger ?" He asked without turning around as he picked out a shirt and matching slacks to change into. Turning back around to face her, he began unbuttoning his shirt while looking at her expectantly. "Well?"

"N- No." Hermione answers, looking down as her face turned red at the thought of seeing him with his shirt off again. "So, we are going today then. We better get dressed." She whispers, getting ready to walk into the other room to change.

Draco couldn't help but smirk at the girl's innocence, wondering how far he could take her blushing. At the very least, it would distract her from the hairs until that pitiful House Elf returned. She would have no idea that he was lying. She would have no idea that he really didn't have the hairs at this point and, to be brutally honest, he would rather argue about him teasing her than argue about whether or not he was foolish in trusting a House Elf anyway. This killed two birds with one stone. It got Hermione to leave him alone, probably too furious to even look at him, for when the House Elf returned and it kept her distracted from the more important things they could be arguing about.

"Hey whats your problem Granger? Telling me you've never seen Weasel-bee or Potter naked yet? Why are you so embarrassed to see me without my shirt on? Virgin?" He asked with a snicker as he stripped his shirt off and began undoing his belt.

Hermione's mouth dropped open in shock at the words. "Excuse me?" She asked, turning around with her hands on her hips. "That is none of your business! This is something that Dumbledore sent us to do and Ron and Harry are different...they are my friends, and even then...not completely naked." She confesses, blushing more.

"Well then it shouldn't be that big a deal for me. Besides I'm guessing even someone like you has to get de-virginized eventually. So whats it matter if you see me naked? I'm not gonna be the one to do it. Would taint the bloodline. Unless your chicken of course?" He asked with another smirk. If nothing else he could use the fact that he'd seen her naked as leverage. Holding it over her head someday in case he needed it.

"What?!" Hermione asks, unsure of what the boy in front of her was saying. Was Draco offering to take her virginity or just daring her to see him naked? And if so, why? Why give in to his power-trip that he was some kind of...God to women. "What does it even matter whether I'm a virgin? Unless you have a guilty conscience too? You know, the average age that men loose their virginity is between sixteen and seventeen. And technically you are only fifteen, if I remember quickly. You haven't had your sixteenth birthday yet."

Draco was shocked at her boldness. What business was it of her's if he was still a virgin. He could feel his face flushing at the thought but didn't know if it was because of anger or embarrassment that she was right. "So what if your right? I'm not saying I'd do you Granger. I'm just saying what difference does it make if your in the same room while I'm changing or vice versa? Your the one who keeps saying we need to stick together in case something happens..." Draco replied unzipping his pants and dropping them to the floor. Stepping out of them, he stooped down and picked them up and began folding them before placing them on the dresser. "I'm changing clothes Granger and I don't give a damn whether your standing there or not when I do it," Draco said turning and reaching for the waistline of his boxers.

"I don't believe you," Hermione answers, sticking her nose up in the air as she crossed her arms across her chest. "You wouldn't dare! You would turn around first at the very least!"

Draco was torn at this point. He hadn't originally planned on it going this far, it simply being an argument and her storming out of the room, but now she was questioning whether or not he had the nerve to go through with it or not. Taking them off, he would let Hermione Granger of all people see him naked but leaving them on, that would show him as a coward. Gritting his teeth he tucked his thumbs into the waistline of his boxers and pulled them down to his feet and then stood up and stepped out of them trying to hide his embarrassment with a scorn.

Hermione closed her eyes but it was too late. She could feel her face getting hotter by the minute as she bit her lip in a furious embarrassment. "Very nice Malfoy," She says in a mixture of shock, and...a crude mixture of excitement and disgust. But who was the disgust for? Draco for having the nerve to show her his...his manhood? Or herself, for wanting to see more? "I'm going to go get dressed now." She says, storming out of the room, her face beet red.

Draco smirked as he stepped out of his boxers all the while shouting at her back as she left, "So no balls then Granger? You've seen mine but not brave enough to show off your goodies? Or is that it? That you do have balls and that's the problem?"

Hermione ran back into the room furious with both Draco and herself, too furious to realize she was in nothing but her white lacy knickers and matching bra. She almost ran into him as she stood there, the anger building up inside of her. She stood, face to face only inches away from Draco. She could smell the spearmint on his breath, the smell of his cologne still on his skin and fought against her natural urges. "I DO NOT have to prove anything to you!" She hollers, her voice hard and cold.

Draco blanched at the level of her anger but was even more surprised to see her standing there in nothing but her knickers. Draco had to admit, for a mud-blood she wasn't half bad looking. Not that he'd had a lot to compare it too other than the occasional PlayWitch monthly he'd snuck out of his fathers desk drawer. Her skin was firm and yet quite supple. Her breasts were larger than what he'd imagined and he guessed that was why she always wore the clothing she did. That it was to hide her figure which Draco stood there chastising himself for admiring. She was a mud-blood after all. "Sure you do. Prove you've got the guts and your not a wimp," Draco replied with a smirk thinking that she would surely cave at this point. She had to cave. If she didn't, that would mean that he was and a Malfoy didn't cave to anyone.

"Guts?! That is what this is about?" Hermione asks, not even thinking anymore. She was too angry to think, too infuriated with the boy standing in front of her. Who was he to say whether or not she was brave? She had done things that were much braver than this. Than anything he had ever done. She puckered her lips in fury, scrunching her nose, before reaching up and smacking Draco hard across the face, leaving a red mark on the side of his cheek. Quickly, she reaches behind her bra, unfastening it. "THERE! Happy?!" She asks, blushing immensely now. She knew her face probably matched Ron's hair by this point. "How's that for wimpy you loathsome, disgusting cockroach!"

Rubbing the side of his face, Draco looked at her in rage before replying, "Well that's great Granger. I already knew you had knockers. But that still doesn't prove whether or not you've got balls and so help me Merlin, if you ever touch me again I will make sure you'll regret it." He stood there rubbing his jaws and looked her up and down before resting his eye's on her knickers waiting to see if she was brave enough to go all the way.

"Oh, you will make sure that I regret it?!" Hermione asks in a fury, she was beyond outraged now. Beyond any anger she had ever felt for him in her life. Reaching down, she grabs his hand, putting it up against her knickers between her legs, unaware that he could feel the heat radiating off of her from excitement, an outraged, embarrassed excitement. This was more, way more, than she had ever seen of any guy before and he was pushing her to her limit. "Does it feel like there is anything there Malfoy?!" She asks through gritted teeth.

Draco was both amazed and infuriated that she had been so bold, but he also couldn't deny that the heat and wetness between her legs had aroused him and he felt his member begin to grow. He felt the primal urge begin to rise inside of him and for some reason he couldn't quite explain he didn't try to stop it, but instead embraced it and let it come. So what if it was with Hermione bloody Granger? No one had to know and he was sure if she told anyone no one would believe her. He grabbed her other wrist and pulled their bodies together until her face was inches from his own.

"Dr- Draco?" Hermione whispered, now realizing what she had done. That maybe she had taken it a step too far but...his body did feel good against hers and...it wasn't like anyone was going to know if they did do anything. She had been wanting this for a while, nearly giving into Krum's pleas a year ago as he begged 'Hermy-oww-knee' to give in, her denying him repeatedly for the sake of not wanting to be known around Hogwarts for being promiscuous. She knew how rumors like that spread from nothing more than a boy and girl dating but...Draco couldn't tell anybody. Nobody would believe him if he did and she had already, being out of fury or not, taken it this far.

As Draco looked down at Hermione he noticed the change in her body, the way she all of a sudden leaned into him like she couldn't get close enough. Being all the encouragement that his body needed, Draco began to slowly stroke his fingers back and forth across the bottom of her knickers feeling her wetness grow. "Do you like that Granger? You see what I think is that you just need to relax. If you were with a man every once in awhile you wouldn't be so tense. Bet I could make you feel better all over," He said with a smirk knowing the effect he was having on her.

Hermione felt butterflies in her stomach as a want grew in her groin, causing her to catch her breath at Draco's delicate touch. It wasn't anything like the books had explained, nothing like the way Lavender and Pavarti and even Ginny had discussed. It wasn't even how Draco was supposed to feel. It was gentle and affectionate and...teasing, drawing her to want more. "Mhm..." She whimpers lightly in his touch, finding herself speechless.

"Ahh so you do like that do you Granger? Good lets see what else we can get out of you," Draco said and with a sudden rush of adrenaline he yanked her toward the large four poster bed. Hermione squealed out in both excitement and fear, feeling herself land on the bed. Spinning her around he stood behind her and bent her over slightly placing her hands on the bed. Then he slowly drew his hands up her arms to her shoulders and then down her back to the edge of her knickers. Tucking his thumbs into the waistband he slowly pulled them down her legs and lifting her feet one by one pulled them off and tossed them across the room. He gently tapped the insides of her legs to get her to spread them open.

Hermione quivered at his touch, giving in as she spread her legs slightly. "Draco..." She whispers softly as she turns and looks over her shoulder. "Ummm...you were right." She says, knowing that she should let him know in advanced.

"Hmmm? Right about what?" Draco asked as he slowly trailed kisses up the back of her calves and then the backs her knees.

"Ohhhh..." Hermione moaned out at the sensitivity, forgetting what she was going to say as she caved into his kisses, her legs shivering slightly as she felt the excitement growing within her, her body craving him.

Draco slowly licked his way up her inner thigh, causing her to quiver in anticipation, until his lips were just barely brushing against her now dripping wet woman hood. Reaching up he slowly let his tongue trail across her and he felt her shudder against his tongue. Feeling emboldened by this, he began to lick her with slow lazy strokes causing her to moan out in pleasure.

The feeling was unbelievable as Hermione got down onto her elbows, arching her back for Draco to have easier access. She couldn't believe the feelings he was giving her as pleasure rushed through her entire body, making her want him to stop, to do more, and all at the same time. She wanted to feel what it was like for him to pleasure her from the inside but didn't want to risk this amazing feeling ending. "Ohhh...ohhh...Draco yes..." She moaned out in pleasure, running her hands through her hair as he teased her lightly with his tongue. She had completely forgotten whatever it was she was planning on telling Draco, only wanting to feel what else he could do for her.

Slowly his hand slides up her inner thigh as he softly started to touch her, fingering her lightly as he listened to her moans. "Come on Granger," He whispers with a smirk, feeling his finger move inside of her warm, wet core as he tried to imagine what it would feel like wrapped around his member. "What was it you were wanting to tell me?" He asks. Never had Draco expected it to go this far, never in a million years but Hermione was right, he was a virgin and he was planning on that ending since he already had her this far. Mud-blood or not, it's not like anyone would ever find out. Kissing back up Hermione's back, Draco positioned himself behind her, his hardened manhood aligned with her core. He could feel the heat radiating off of Hermione's body as he slowly entered her, the feeling taking his breath away. She was so tight, so warm and wet. He couldn't help but want to stay there forever.

As Draco entered her, Hermione felt a sharp, momentary sting. Her virginity was gone but she felt fuller as he moved slowly inside of her at first, causing her to moan out in pleasure as he slowly built up his pace until Draco was thrusting quickly inside of her, sending Hermione closer and closer to orgasm as her body tensed up around him. She could feel it coming, her mind begging for it as he continued to move, repeatedly hitting that sensitive spot. She couldn't help but scream out as suddenly the tension that had been built up inside of her, begging only to be released finally broke free, causing her to moan out his name, sending Draco over the edge himself as her body shook beneath him.

As Draco felt Hermione tensing up around him, he heard her screaming out his name in the constant waves of orgasm if only pushed him harder. The primal instinct taking over he grabbed her hips and pulled her back onto him while thrusting forward into her with every motion. The feeling of her warm wetness completely surrounding him sent electricity up his spine and he felt the power building steadily inside of him. The feeling of her soft wet folds enclosing around him tighter and tighter as her orgasm continued to rip through her was too much for him to bear and he felt the electricity that had been flowing through his body shoot straight to his groin as he orgasmed as well spilling his seed inside of her, filling her up.

As they both collapsed back onto the bed, Hermione already covering her body with the blanket and Draco beside her, his breathing still heavy, they both stare up at the ceiling in awe, unable to say a word. Neither really knew what to say. Hermione was still shivering from the mini-orgasms still trailing through her body. Draco lay beside her, staring up at the cracked ceiling of the abandoned shack. His mind was racing. He knew teasing Hermione would distract her from the House Elf bringing him the hairs, but this was far from the distraction he was expecting. He meant to make Hermione mad, not to sleep with her. And definitely not to only sleep with her for a few minutes. That was pathetic even for a first time, Draco thought to himself. Thank Merlin no one would believe her if she told them she slept with him. Otherwise he would never sleep with a girl again.

Draco felt his eyelids getting heavy, wore out from the sex that had just occurred between them as he slowly gave in, falling asleep without caring that the muggleborn was laying next to him. He didn't feel as Hermione got up, climbing out of bed. He didn't even stir as she put on her clothes, looked back at Draco with tears of regret and...concern? Was she really concerned for how he would feel when he woke and she wasn't there? Why? He had used her to get what he wanted. To lose his virginity, which was obviously what had happened. Why should she feel sorry for him when he woke up and she was no longer there?

Grabbing Moste Potente Potions up off the floor, Hermione went back down to the basement of the shack, reading by her wand light as she tried to make sense of everything that had just happened.


	9. A Master Plan

"Young Master Malfoy..." Draco heard a voice calling out before feeling a light shake on his arm. "Master Malfoy..." Fighting off the voice begging him to wake up, Draco rolls over, the desire for five more minutes of sleep taking over.

"Not now..." He answers, waving his arm to try and shake off the voice as he felt something tugging on his arm lightly.

"Young Master Malfoy..." The voice repeated, tugging on him a little bit more firmly.

"Five more minutes.." Draco mumbles, pulling the scratchy blanket of the worn four poster bed over his head to block the light coming in through the cracks of the wood in the Shack.

"Five more minutes until what Young Master?" The voice asks confused, pulling the blanket down from Draco's face causing him to groan out.

"WHAT!?" He now yelled out in fury, opening his eyes to see two over-sized brown eyes staring back at him, a button nose between them that was surrounded by the grey flesh of the House Elf.

"I'm so...so...sorry..." The House Elf stuttered in fear. "Yo...Young Master Malfoy requested the...the hairs of Ma...Master and Mistress Malfoy..." It answered, terrified of it's master's reaction. "Kr..Kritter brought Young Master the...the hairs sir."

"What time is it?!" Draco groans out, rolling over in exhaustion from the prior night, still trying to piece together in his mind what exactly he had done with Hermione.

"It's nine in the morning sir." The House Elf answers quietly as Draco opens his eyes a little bit more to see the House Elf's ears bandaged sloppily with old rags.

"Sodding hell," He exclaims, rubbing his eyes, still squinted open to avoid letting too much sunlight in. "What did you do this time?"

"My apologies Young Master," The House Elf answered quickly, "but Kritter had to punish herself before delivering the hairs to Young Master. You see, Kritter did as was asked of her, getting the hairs of course, and when she did, Master Malfoy was furious."

"Furious?" Draco asks, still in disbelief and sleep. "Why would father be furious?"

"Kritter did as Young Master asked. Kritter got the hairs." She answers, holding up two single strands as Draco suddenly woke up from his half-sleep, realizing what the House Elf was saying.

"How did Kritter get the hairs?" Draco asked firmly, realizing what he may be dealing with now.

"Kritter took the hairs from Master and Mistress Malfoy. Kritter waited until they were eating their breakfast, Young Master. Then Kritter walked over and she picked the hairs from Master and Mistress Malfoy's heads."

Draco smacked his forehead, unable to believe how dim the House Elf could be. "AND what in the bloody hell did they say?"

"Master Malfoy was furious Young Master." The House Elf answers, "But Kritter wasn't allowed to explain why she did what she did, which made him more furious. Kritter is being punished, Young Master."

Draco knew that the House Elf wouldn't be dismissed. Here he was, at fifteen years old and they still had the pathetic excuse of a servant in their home, but it was the point of the matter. "You may go..." He says in a heated fury, taking the hairs from the Elf, unable to believe how dim it could really be.

The House Elf disapparated, leaving Draco now alone with a single long white strand of hair, a single long black strand of hair, and his thoughts. As he lay in the bed, staring up at the ceiling, Draco tried to piece together in his mind what exactly had happened the night before. He could still feel the warmth of Granger's body against his, the way her skin felt beneath his lips, how extremely soft she was surrounding him. What had he done? It wasn't supposed to have gone that far. He wasn't supposed to have had those few moments of passion with a mudblood. He wasn't supposed to want to have them again. It was disgusting, he kept reminding himself as he stared up at the single crack in the ceiling, the thought of getting so close, so personal with something as disgraceful as a witch born from muggle parents but somehow now he knew as he got up and got dressed, that things wouldn't be the same between him and Granger, that everything had changed.

Hermione finally got the courage to walk back up from the basement of the Shrieking Shack. She still couldn't help but feel used, like Draco had taken advantage of her anger just to get inside her pants but despite her fury, Hermione knew they still had a mission to complete and the sooner she got it done, the sooner she could return to not saying a word to the Slytherin but first, they needed to eat. Walking back into the bedroom, and making sure not to look at the bed where she had just lost her virginity merely hours prior, Hermione tries to focus her thoughts. "We should go back to that cafe, the muggle one. We need to eat and get back to work."

Not looking directly at her as he tried to focus on his own thoughts, Draco mumbled under his breath, "Yea sure, the muggle place again. Great..." Quickly he turned and made his way to the fireplace not thrilled about having to step foot back in a muggle eatery again so soon.

Hermione followed slowly behind him, her face red as they floo'ed out and back into the dark, dampened pub. She made sure to avoid eye contact with any of the current customers of the pub, not just for the sake of avoiding being discovered anymore, but also out of disappointment in herself, as if if they looked into her eyes, they would see the scarlet letter she wore upon her muggle clothing. Walking out into the muggle streets of London, Hermione led the way to the cafe. "You still have ummm...the hairs right?" She asked him, not looking up.

"Yes." He said curtly not wanting to carry on a conversation with her at that particular moment. He was still contemplating the events of the night before. He wasn't a virgin anymore. The thought that bothered him the most was that he thought he would feel different. Like more of a man. But truthfully not only did he not feel like more of a man, he didn't feel any different at all. He'd spent most of the morning trying to recall every conversation he'd ever had with Blaise on the subject of losing their virginities and he couldn't once remember them talking about how they would feel afterward. Never even thinking that it would feel this awkward.

Hermione nodded her head, giving up on trying to have a conversation with him. It was pointless, now not only was she not a virgin, having done the one thing she swore she wouldn't have by sleeping with just any guy. She wanted to have done that with a man who respected her, who loved her for everything she was, faults and all. She wanted it to be with a man who would kiss her passionately, asking her if she was sure this was what she wanted before making love to her, only for her to fall asleep on his chest and wake up with him still holding her the next morning and yet here she was instead, telling a minimum wage waitress with an attitude problem at a diner that her and the...the boy...she had slept with the night before would like to drink. "Two orange juices please," She says softly, looking at the menu before sighing and throwing it down on the table. "You are going to have to talk to me eventually Malfoy. We have to get this done!"

Draco's head snapped up and he quickly retorted, "You don't think I know that? You don't think I want to get back to our time as soon as possible? But what would you have me do ? Its not like I can do something right here right now, now can I? We need to eat if were going to have the energy to get this done so be patient dammit. And, by the way, you better watch your tone with me. Just because we slept together doesn't mean you own me!" He leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms across his chest glaring around at the stunned looks of the other diners daring anyone to say anything.

He watched as the muggle-born blushed, looking back down at her menu in embarrassment as she fought back the tears burning in her eyes, as she gulped back the tightening feeling in her throat, trying to keep from losing it right there in the cafe.

Seeing Hermione on the edges of tears, Draco's gaze softened and he leaned forward, lowering his voice to say, "Listen I'm sorry. I didn't mean to bite your head off Granger. Its just, I hadn't planned on being in this situation at all. Here in this time with you, doing a mission, and what we...what happened last night. I'm just a little overwhelmed, okay?" Running his hand through his hair he tried to relax the tension in his shoulders to show her he didn't want to pick a fight.

Hermione nodded her head, staring down at the table. "Well, I wasn't exactly planning on this happening either." She says softly, still fighting back the urge to cry. "Not all of this, not with you. This wasn't the way it was supposed to happen." She whispers, unsure of why she was even trying to explain it to someone as selfish as Draco Malfoy who cared about no one but himself. "I just want to go back home." She says, holding herself with her arms. "And the sooner we get this done, the sooner I can."

"Ok. Then whats the plan? And this time lets try to keep the distractions down to a minimum, okay? I don't think this place would like it if I had you bent over the table begging like you did last night," Draco replied with a smirk as he picked up his menu trying to decipher its contents.

Hermione felt excitement overwhelming her, a feeling that she had only felt one other time in her life, the night before, a level of frustration that made her want to do nothing more than both kiss Draco and smack him all at the same time. "You know what, I don't even know if I'm hungry anymore thanks to that!" She said, putting the menu back down. "And don't think just because you took advantage of me once, that we are ever going to...going to...do THAT again." She said firmly, blushing at even the words of what had happened between them.

" "Took advantage, eh? I wouldn't exactly call that taking advantage of you, Granger. You wanted it and don't try to deny it. If you would have fought me off in the least then it would have been taking advantage of you. But you didn't. You all but begged me for more. And I don't care whether you hungry or not, your going to eat or we'll sit here until you do. I may be in a hurry to get back to our time but not at the expense of your health for not eating." Draco replied not looking up from his menu.

Fighting back a laugh, she looked at him. "Don't make me laugh Draco, since when do you ever care about my health? EVER? And I was not...begging you." She says, shifting uncomfortably in her chair as she looked around, making sure no one was listening in. "Besides, there really wasn't much time there to enjoy Malfoy." She said suddenly with a swift bite.

""Well for it being so short you sure weren't complaining. As a matter of fact how did you put it last night? Oh oh Draco yes. Please yes!" He said in a tone of mocking her voice. "Anyways what exactly is your plan for breaking the cabinet? I figured out how to get the hairs. Now its your turn to figure something out," Draco asked as he put down his menu finally deciding on eggs Benedict, whatever that was.

" "I was actually doing some research on it downstairs and there was nothing on it. 'Reparo' will fix things, but even then, it is only simple items." She says, explaining herself as she ignored his crude comment. "For example, 'Reparo' doesn't work on mending broken bones, it's the same way with more complicated magical objects. You can't tell me, growing up in a wizarding house though, that you never broke anything? Something?" She asked, pulling for strings before stopping the conversation as the waitress came back up to them. "Hotcakes please."

"""""""'Eggs ben...a..dict? Whatever that one is." Draco said pointing at the menu. As the waitress walked away he looked at Hermione and replied, "Of course I've broken things. Usually I used something else to do the breaking. I was waving my mother's wand around once when I was a child and I smashed my fathers magical clock. So I guess if you have an object with stronger power than the one your trying to break then, yes its possible."

"Yes, there's an idea." Hermione answered sarcastically. "Let's just walk into Borgin and Burkes with a sludge hammer and have our way with the vanishing cabinet." She said with a laugh before looking back at Draco, who was staring at her confused.

"Whats a sledge hammer?" He asked in confusion.

"It's a giant...oh, forget about it." Hermione answers, figuring it would be easier to just skip than try to explain. "Anyway, it did have the incantation for how to use the Vanishing Cabinet."

"Really? What is it?" Draco asked intrigued. The way he figured it, this come in handy in the future in case he ever needed to disappear in a hurry.

"Harmonia Nectere Passus." She says precisely, figuring it couldn't hurt them figure out how to break the cabinet if they knew how to use it. "It means Harmony, to connect or join, and to pass. Every Vanishing Cabinet has a twin, was what the book said. That means that only one cabinet can travel to that one."

Draco nodded with understanding. It made sense because if you weren't carefully you'd end up literally 'Passing' from one bad situation to a worse one. "Okay, so then that still doesn't answer the original question. How do we break something, and do it without getting caught?"

"Well," Hermione answers matter-of-factly, thinking about it. "Have you ever been in Borgin and Burkes? I haven't."

"I remember going in once with my father when I was younger. It was a long time ago though. I remember where it is but that's about it." Draco said despairingly. Why did Dumbledore pick him for this? What help was he going to be once they got inside?

"So you don't remember anything in there? Or even what they keep in there?" She asked before sighing heavily. "Come on Draco, we both know your father is a Death Eater, what kind of Death Eater stuff is there?" She finally asked blatantly.

"""'I can't remember, okay?! Bloody hell Granger, it was a long time ago. I try not to remember a lot of that time. They have all sorts of junk in there. Its really a junk shop more than anything else. Odd's and End's kind of items." He said before sighing in frustration. "I remember the giant Vanishing Cabinet and my father talking about something my second year, then he told me not to touch anything and we left."

"What were you trying to touch?" Hermione asks with curiousity.

"One of the cabinets." He answered, shrugging his shoulders. "A Torture Cabinet, but my parents wouldn't be interested in anything severe like that."

"So if I went in there with you as your mother, I could distract the shop keep? ""' She asks in questioning.

"Of course. But my mother wouldn't be caught dead in a place like Borgin and Burkes. Unless they had something she couldn't get anywhere else," He replied thinking about it.

Hermione seemed dumbfounded at this point. "They are a junk shop. I mean, they have to have something there. Necklaces? Something." She said, trying to think of something that his mother would need from there.

At the mention of necklaces Draco had a flashback to his childhood. His father had come home from work and given his mother a necklace, a silver one with bright green saphires, if he remembered correctly. When she had asked where he'd gotten it from, his father had replied, "Borgin and Burkes." Draco ran through the memory over and over to make sure and it kept coming back the same. "They do carry necklaces. My father bought one there for my mother a long time ago. She or you I mean could claim that she had lost it and not wanting to upset my father wanted to know if he had another one for replacement. It might just work," Draco said scratching his head deep in thought.

"But you are going to be with me as LUCIUS," Hermione says obviously before it clicks in her head. "Draco, that's it! You're genius! I could have the shop keep go to the back with me to look at jewelry. Then he wouldn't see you anywhere near the cabinet." She says with satisfaction. "It's perfect. And they will be at the train station tomorrow to pick you up from Hogwarts. They won't be anywhere near Borgin and Burkes."

Draco nodded, smiling at just how fast Hermione had picked up on his logic. "As long as we time it the same we should have no problem getting in, breaking the cabinet, and getting out before anyone notices. You'll actually have to buy the necklace so he doesn't get suspicious though," Draco replied as their food arrived. He looked at his plate confused at the dish placed before him. Picking up his fork he picked at the layers of food before grabbing his knife and cutting himself a piece. Bringing it to his lips, he raised his eyebrows at her before saying, "Muggles... Anyways it gives us one more night to solidify the plan. And anything else..." , before eating his food and grinning wickedly at Hermione.

Hermione blushed slightly, trying to hide her smile as she took a bite of her hotcakes. What was her problem? Why did the thought of spending another night alone with Draco Malfoy entice her so...


	10. Save her from a Skrewt

The two teens walked back to the Shrieking Shack, Hermione laughing as Draco joked, suddenly both of them more at ease. It was almost as if the night before had never happened, or more-so that it had brought them closer together.

"Well, how was I supposed to know that Crabbe didn't know the difference between _Colloportus _and _Colloshoo?_" He asks with a smile on his face. "You should have heard my father. The plan was to lock the door behind us but when my father fell on his face instead, it wasn't nearly as fun anymore. I don't think I had ever gotten scolded that bad in my life." He couldn't help but be relieved that at least there was someone besides Blaise that he could hold a regular conversation with, even if they would never speak after this.

"That's okay," Hermione laughs back, picturing Lucius falling on his face. "Ron couldn't figure out our entire third year how I was going to two sets of classes at once." She said with a laugh as Draco looked at her confused.

"How were you going to two sets of classes?" He asked in confusion, trying to figure it out himself.

"The time-turner of course." Hermione answered, as if it were obvious. "McGonagall gave it to me to use. Said she doesn't give it to just anyone but after my third year, I stopped using it. The extra homework just became too much."

"Makes sense," Draco answers, thinking about it before continuing with his strut back to the Shack. Hermione followed along until she stopped in her place at the sound of something rustling in the woods.

"Did you hear that?" She whispers softly, looking over at the bushes as they moved.

"It's probably nothing." Draco answers, "Are we going to get back so that we can finalize the plan or not?"

"No," She whispers, moving closer to the sound. "I heard something." Suddenly the something Hermione had heard jumps out at her, the fading sunlight of the evening making it difficult for her to see what exactly it was as she screamed out at the sight of the odd-shaped shell-less lobster with legs sticking out randomly tackled her, flames shooting from it's hindside, making it even more difficult for Hermione to see. It had to have been at least the length of her own body as Hermione's head hit the ground and the animal dragged her off by the leg.

"DRACO!" Hermione screams out as the lobster shaped creature grabs her, causing Draco to turn around quickly, running after her.

"HERMIONE!" He yells, sending hexes at the creature himself. He remembered what Hermione had taught him about the non-verbal spells, tossing them at the creature as they bounced off of it's shell with ease and Hermione continued to disappear, Draco barely being able to keep up at a full-force run.

Hermione screamed out in pain as she felt the animal latch onto her leg, what felt like a thousand tiny needles digging into her flesh all at once as the beast sucked blood from her leg in a frenzy as it continued to scurry backwards, dragging her through the rocky brush covering the forest floor. "It's a Blast-Ended Skrewt!" Hermione yelled, feeling the pain from the monster draining the blood from her leg. "Attack it's underside!"

Draco did as he was told, listening to Hermione's advice as he continued to try to hit the stomach of the animal, still trying to keep up with them. He knew if he lost sight of Hermione now, he would probably never see her again due to the female beast looking for a meal.

Suddenly, the Skrewt stood up, hissing at Draco as it's stinger on it's back aimed threateningly at him. Draco took his chance, seeing the creature's weak spot clearly. "DEPULSO!" He yells, aiming his wand at the Skrewt's underbelly, sending it flying off towards a tree as he ran over, grabbing Hermione under the arms and dragging her away from the Skrewt.

"Confringo!" He yells, causing the Skrewt to burst into flames as tears streamed down Hermione's face.

"Draco, it was just doing all it knows how to do." Hermione says, her stomach dropping in pity for the creature as she looked at the burnt bark on the tree, the bits of leaves and grass still in small piles of fire where the Skrewt had once been.

"It's a rough world." Draco answers coldly, "What was that about anyway?"

"One of Hagrid's experiments perhaps?" Hermione answers, trying to stand up before falling into Draco's arms. "I can't walk." She says, flinching in pain.

"I'll take you back." He answers, allowing her to put her weight onto him instead of her leg. "Just try and keep the weight off of it." He led her back to the Shrieking Shack, laying her softly on his own bed once they got up to the room. "Damn Hermione," He said, lifting up her pant leg and exposing the large, oval-shaped gash. "You let it do a number on your leg."

"Yea," Hermione answers, flinching as she sat up from the pain. "Wait! You called me Hermione?"

"Hmpf." Draco answers, shrugging his shoulders, "Guess I did." He answers, examining her leg a little bit more closely. It wasn't as bad as he had originally glanced at, more of a skin wound where the Skrewt had simply taken off the flesh and sucked directly on the muscle. Dittany would help with the open sore but wouldn't do much for the pain that came along with trying to walk on the leg. Their plan was put on a halt for now but Draco had to admit, he was thankful that nothing worse had happened to Hermione. "Didn't you say something earlier about there being Dittany that Dumbledore sent with us?" He asks as Hermione nodded her head. Quickly, he went over to the bag. "Accio Dittany." He said, causing the vial to jump into his hand before he walked back over to Hermione.

Opening the vial, he pours a few drops onto Hermione's wound, watching as the skin heals itself over as she flinches in pain, shoving the pillow into her face to keep from screaming out.

"Shhhhh!" He whispers, moving up beside her and cradling her face trying to comfort her in the pain. "It's okay," He whispers softly, unsure of what else to do. "You will be fine."

Hermione nods her head, biting her lip against the burning sensation. Her leg singed as she knew it was the Dittany healing the wound. Softly, she closed her eyes to the pain, giving in to the exhaustion caused by the pain as Draco did something he never saw himself doing, and couldn't explain why he was doing, and kissed her forehead.

"Close your eyes Hermione," He tells her, brushing the hair from her eyes. "Go to sleep and the pain will ease."

He watched as her breathing leveled out, sending her into a deepened sleep as Draco stared at her. He couldn't explain the emotions he was feeling. Maybe it was simply because he had shared something with her that he had never experienced with anyone else. Maybe it was the fact that she defied everything Draco's father had ever told him about muggle-borns. Either way, Draco couldn't help but hate himself for finding beauty in her sleeping form. He couldn't help but feel emotions for the girl, emotions he couldn't explain. He wanted to make sure she didn't get hurt again and, damned him, her name felt so right on his lips.

Draco came to a conclusion in that moment as he wrapped a bandage around Hermione's hurt leg. He had to keep her safe, safe from what he knew he had no choice but to become, and if that meant hurting himself to keep from hurting her in the end, that was what he was going to do.

Walking back over to the mattress on the floor that had been Hermione's bed up until now, Draco lit a fire in the fireplace before closing his eyes and drifting off into a sleep that would only remind him of why he had to protect her.


	11. A Lover's Limits

"Careful," Draco whispers, helping Hermione to her feet from the bed a few days later, his arm under her own as she kept her arm on his shoulder for support, both of them forgetting that they weren't supposed to be this close. They had a mission first that they had to complete. They could worry about not wanting to touch each other later, when Hermione could actually stand up on her own to go to the cafe and eat again instead of Draco having to bring food back to the Shrieking Shack on his own, which he complained, saying he wasn't a servant and Hermione constantly critiquing what he ordered and brought back. "Apply your weight slowly."

Hermione nodded her head, flinching in pain as she did as she was told. She bit her lip, fighting back the urge to cry as she felt the familiar ache amplifying from her calf. She tried applying weight to the leg slowly, fighting the pain radiating through her leg, causing it to burn. "It hurts." She whispers, tears welling up in her eyes.

"Fight it." Draco answers, the cockiness in his voice returning immediately, a sense of arrogance appearing once more. "You can't sit here and baby it all day. Or is that what you mud-bloods do?"

"Funny of you to be the one to mention babying a wound." Hermione backs back in both frustration and discomfort. "I didn't exactly see you manning up whenever Buckbeak attacked you!" She bit back, leaning back towards the bed to sit back down.

Draco gave in, allowing Hermione to sit back on the bed as she propped her leg back up. "Pathetic." He said, the usual pompous sound in his voice as he snarled his nose looking down at her.

"What's _pathetic?_" She bites back, imitating Draco perfectly with a defensive tone in her voice. "I'm sorry that I can't walk right now Draco, but in case you haven't noticed, I got attacked by a Blast-Ended Skrewt."

"I realize that." Draco answers, "but you can't exactly walk into Borgin and Burkes as my mother if you can't even walk. What do you think? No one will question a Malfoy in the amount of pain your face is showing? It's about time you either suck it up and deal with it hurting or I'm going to have to do this on my own." He says with spite.

"Your own?" Hermione asks, sass in her tone as she raised an eyebrow in doubt.

"Alright fine," Draco answers, giving in to what Hermione was saying as he knew that she was right. "I can't….I need you for this Hermione." He said, his eyes meeting hers.

Hermione nodded her head, looking down at her hands, unable to believe Draco had just confessed that. "We…" She stopped, sitting back up as she patted the bed beside her, signaling for Draco to sit down next to her.

Draco did as he was asked, not mentioning anything about how Hermione was, once again, telling him what to do. He didn't say anything about how she needed to respect her superiors or how she needed to be stronger, this wasn't the time or place. Instead, he simply sat down beside her on the bed, looking down at his own hands.

Hermione sighed heavily before wrapping her arm around his neck as it had been before, taking a deep breath as she braced herself.

"What are you doing Granger?" He asked in confusion, looking at Hermione's hand on the opposite side of him.

"Shut up Draco." Hermione answered firmly, causing Draco to stare at her in awe, shocked that she would say such a thing to a Malfoy. Hermione didn't give him a chance to reply with a snarky comeback, with any kind of a comeback really, as she pushed herself up off the bed onto her feet. Squeezing her eyes shut as the overwhelming pain overtook her, radiating from her leg, Hermione knew she had to prove Draco wrong. She had to prove to him that she could handle anything given to her.

Draco stood up with Hermione, supporting her in shock and amazement as she moved her good leg forward, her bad leg following directly behind it as she walked slowly, Draco following along beside her until she made it from one bed to the other.

"Brilliant." Draco answered, his voice cold and hardened as he tried to hide his amazement in the girl's strength. Looking down, Hermione looked back up at Draco in shock, her eyes resembling that of a House Elf as she suddenly noticed his own arm wasn't under her own supporting her as it had been during her first attempt, but around her waist instead.

"Is something wrong?" He asked, it now being his turn to raise an eyebrow at Hermione in doubt.

Hermione softly shook her head, feeling the familiar warmth of a blush returning to her cheeks as they walked back over to the four-poster bed where she had been resting for the past couple of days, unable to move any more than the occasional rolling over or sitting up.

"Didn't think so," Draco answers, feeling for the first time since they had slept together less than a week ago, the confidence with women that he had once held. He remembered what he had told himself. Whatever happened here, Draco couldn't let her get hurt again. He had to keep her safe. But why? It made no sense in his own head why he would want to protect a mud-blood as he slowly moved closer to her. It made no sense why he would even care what happened to such filth, less than a House Elf, as he softly pressed his lips up against hers, embracing the feeling of her soft mouth on his. It made no sense how he could want something, someone, so much whenever he had spent the past five years pushing her to hate him as he leaned against Hermione, pushing her back onto the bed, his mouth guiding her way.

Hermione didn't fight the kiss as her heart fluttered up into her throat in a blissful lust. She didn't try to argue reason with him, or with herself rather, as she gave in and let her hand explore the nape of his neck, kissing him back with every ounce of precious emotion she carried.

Slowly Draco moved on top of her, his own body surrounding hers as his elbows rest on either side of her head and he kissed her gently, so much unlike the first time their bodies had met, and so much more like the bodies of lovers would meet in a passionate lovemaking. He was gentle with her, careful not to offend a woman as delicate, and yet strong and proud, as Hermione was. For some reason, one Draco couldn't explain, he wanted to satisfy her, to please her, but most off to make sure that in no way, shape, or form, did he offend her as his mouth left her own, moving down to her neck as he kissed her neck with the gentle touch Hermione had not only been craving, but expecting to feel from a man.

Hermione moaned out softly as Draco's hands worked their way down her side, making sure not to touch her breasts as he wanted to show her, for reasons he couldn't figure out in his own head, that he wanted to focus on her first. Instead, his hands grazed down her sides to her hips, where he softly made his way to her center, right below her naval, and unbuttoned her jeans, slipping them off of her perfectly toned legs, taking extra caution not to rub the blue jean material against her sore leg. His mouth met hers once more as he rubbed the outside of Hermione's knickers, the warmth of her wettened lace now almost a soothing feeling against his fingertips.

Hermione's fingers grazed the bottom of Draco's shirt as their lips met, their mouths exploring one another in a feeling neither had ever felt, Hermione wanting to sacrifice everything she had to Draco, and Draco wanting to do whatever he could to please Hermione. Their eyes met momentarily, Draco's grey eyes searching deep into Hermione's chocolate eyes, his eyes asking her the question his lips were scared to speak as the warmth of Hermione's answered, granting him permission to do what they both had wanted so desperately to do the first time they were together. In case her eyes weren't enough of an answer for Draco, Hermione reached down, quickly pulling his shirt off over his head, exposing his firm, built chest.

Draco took the invitation, returning his mouth to Hermione's neck as he felt her gentle, racing pulse against his own lips. His hands explored their way back down, gently pulling off her knickers, exposing the beauty of her womanhood as Hermione fumbled with Draco's belt, moaning out at the feel of his hand exploring her core, rubbing it gently.

"Brightest witch can't figure out how to unbuckle a belt?" Draco asked, his voice now showing a more loving teasing than before as he stood up in front of the bed, ready to take them off himself as Hermione smiled up at him.

"Accio pants," Hermione answered raising her wand, laughing as Draco's jeans, belt, and boxers ripped off of him, flying at her, exposing his now-naked body for her to see as she threw his clothes to the ground. Draco climbed back on top of her, kissing her as he surrounded her body with his own, his kisses telling her he wanted to make sweet, delicate love to her as Hermione raised her legs, slowly allowing Draco to enter her as he moved slowly inside of her. Her warmth seemed different this time, more inviting, nearly perfect as Draco continued with the soft, gentle strokes, making sure to give Hermione the love she wanted as his lips covered hers in a passionate, loving kiss.

The young couple put all their emotion into the lovemaking as they continued to move perfectly in sync with each other, Hermione's hands exploring Draco's back, her fingers tracing his shoulder blades, his biceps, as Draco's mouth returned to the gentle dip in Hermione's neck, where her shoulders dipped right before meeting her neckline, her pulse exciting him only more as he moved inside of her, making sweet love to a woman he had never imagined himself falling for.

An hour later, as Hermione curled up, laying her head on Draco's sweat covered chest, she couldn't help but laugh, causing Draco to laugh in return.

"Well, I didn't think I did that bad this time." He said, pulling her naked body closer to his own.

"I just…." Hermione answered, trying to come up with the words to answer with as her mind, still fuzzy from the explosions that had just occurred in her own body as he spilled his seed inside of her. "I can't believe we just did that…again." She answers, laughing.

"We did." Draco answers, kissing the top of her head softly, "You can believe it."

"Where do we go from here?" Hermione asked, wondering if this made it official. If this meant that they were considered serious. This wasn't as it had been before, this was different. This wasn't them having a lustful night of hatred and arguing that led to tension-relieving sex. Draco Malfoy, the same person who had been harassing her for the past five years, had just made deep, passionate love to her.

Draco thought about the question as Hermione drew circles with her finger on his muscled chest, trying to ignore the amazing smells his body held only able to remind her of fresh parchment as her lips still held the taste of spearmint from where Draco had recently brushed his teeth. He thought about what to tell her. How could he break the news to her that once they returned, they couldn't be together? How could he break the news to himself that once he told Hermione that, he would never be able to feel her lips on his again? And yet, he couldn't lie to her. The old Draco could, the Draco that believed her to be nothing more than a mud-blood, a disgrace to the wizarding world. But Draco as he was now saw her for so much more than that. He saw Hermione for what she really was, the brightest wizard of their age who was so much more than her brains, who was fun to be around and always seemed to know the perfect thing to do in a tough situation. Draco couldn't lie to a woman like that. He couldn't tell her everything would be ideal once they got back, so instead he simply sighed.

"Well," He answered with sarcasm, "First, I see mass hysteria, dogs and cats living together in harmony. Gryffindors and Slytherins holding hands as they all plan together and everyone refuses to win the House Cup out of compassion. You-Know-Who will apologize to Potter for killing his parents, despite how pathetic Potter is and my Auntie will turn herself back into Azkaban. After that, no one will think anything of the fact that we are holding hands walking down the corridors." He said, pulling her closer.

Hermione chuckled softly to herself. "I'm being serious Draco." She answers with a laugh.

"I suppose," Draco answers, thinking more about the question and how to answer it. "The next place we should go is to Borgin and Burkes, destroy the cabinet like Dumbledore asked, and then return back to 1996 and go from there." He says, still trying to play it out in his own head.

Hermione couldn't help but be content with Draco's answer, laying her head on his chest once again as Draco placed his hand on her lower back, holding her close as he wondered himself what he was going to do once they got back.


	12. One More Night

"Stay one step behind me at all times," She heard the comforting voice from the night before tell her as the girl sighed, now in clothing that felt nothing less than unnatural to her, a long nearly formal dress, her hair that was normally frazzled and frizzy was now perfectly straightened and pinned back. Even the bright red lipstick she wore felt unnatural as she looked on at the grown man in front of her. "A Malfoy never lets his wife walk beside him, it is his job to take care of her and protect her."

"Do you really feel that way?" She asked as she looked on at Lucius, who less than 24 hours ago was the boy who had made love to her. "That a woman is inferior?"

"Never really thought of it that way Granger," Lucius answers, looking on at his wife instead of Hermione, although he knew that's who it really was.

Narcissa nods her head, looking down at her feet, now ashamed as she followed Lucius down the darkened, damp streets of Knockturn Alley. She couldn't believe it, what he was saying. She was inferior, simply because she was a woman. Because she was, as she looked down at the strange hand that was her own at the ring on her left hand, his wife for now.

"Hold your head high Narcissa," Lucius said in a colder voice, trying to sound more like he knew he should. "You are above these people."

"A Malfoy..." She answers, nearly in disappointment before holding her head high as if with pride. She knew this wasn't going to be easy. Dumbledore had warned them of that, but it still hurt, hearing Draco talk like Lucius. It almost made up for it as he led her up to the darkened storefront, a dirty glass sticking out of one side as Narcissa looked into it, shivering as she saw a skull on display.

"Here," Narcissa says, handing Lucius a gold coin. "In case we get separated."

"A galleon?" He asks, raising an eyebrow in doubt as he looked down at the coin in his hand before looking back up at Narcissa. Was she mad? "What is this for?"

"To know when to meet again," Narcissa answers, "We used them for Dumbledore's Army last year. The numbers there on the side are normally serial numbers so that the goblins can keep track of the money going in and out of Gringotts. I did a simple spell on them so that the numbers change to dates and times, that way we knew when the meetings were. This way, if we get separated or if you get _summoned_ by the ministry," She says with sarcasm, "We know when to meet back up at the cafe."

Lucius nods his head, suddenly understanding why the Inquisitorial Squad was having such a hard time keeping track of when Dumbledore's Army's meetings. It was genius, pure genius. Softly, he put the coin in his pocket with a smile.

"Come on Narcissa," He says firmly as she looks up at the sign above the door. Borgin and Burkes, Established 1603. She smiled slightly as he placed his hand on her lower back, guiding the woman into the over-crowded, dark and dusty store-front. Narcissa looked on at a withered hand sitting on top of a red cushion. Demented looking masks similar to the one Narcissa recognized the real Lucius wearing in the Ministry of Magic lined the walls, each one having a slightly different design covering the face, but the general idea was the same as she moved closer to the Lucius she walked in with, breathing in the familiar scent of fresh parchment from his own over-done clothing for a store such as this.

"Mister Malfoy," A voice called out, almost in a fearful tone as a stooping man with piercing blue eyes and greasy brown hair stepped out from the back. "One of my most loyal customers, and..." The man stopped, looking at Narcissa in shock as he slicked the greasy hair back from his face, exposing even more his blue eyes that Narcissa feared could see straight through her. She reminded herself to keep her mind closed, as Draco had taught her in the basement of the Shrieking Shack as the shop keep stared on at the beauty in front of him, eying her into a discomfort like a piece of fine meat.

"I suggest, unless you want to lose that bottom jaw Borgin, you make it connect with your top one once more." Lucius said coldly, lifting his cane slightly in a threatening manner.

"Ye...yes sir." The man answered, bowing down to Lucius making Narcissa wonder what kind of "My apologies sir, just didn't expect you to bring the Missus in. You never bring the Missus in."

"Yes, well." Lucius answers, his voice cold as he looks over at his wife. "She seemed to have had a special request that she could make with only you." He says, his eyes meeting Narcissa's as she nodded her head, fearful of what the shop keep would try to do once he was alone with her. "You make my wife uncomfortable in the least," Lucius warns, turning back to Mr. Borgin himself, "And I will personally make it to where you get to meet your maker. Do I make myself clear?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes sir," The shop keep answers, "Right this way ma'am." He says, pulling open a curtain as Narcissa looked back at her husband once more before following the shop keep into the back, the curtain dropping behind her, breaking her view of the only thing keeping her together as she had looked on at such horrid sights. Tears well up in Narcissa's eyes as she fights them back, sitting down in a chair at a small table across from the man Lucius was calling Borgin.

"So, you have a special request?" He asked, leaning forward on the table, "One you could only talk to ME about?" He asks, raising an eyebrow as Narcissa felt her blood boiling at the moves the shop keep was already placing upon her.

"I suggest you do as my husband asked." Narcissa answers, her own voice having a sting to it as she crossed her legs like a lady. "I will be sure to tell him if I feel you are the least bit inappropriate, which right now YOU ARE." She said, causing Mr. Borgin to sit up straight as he looked on at the woman. Narcissa knew Lucius didn't have to say that to Mr. Borgin. It wasn't part of their task to keep each other safe, only to complete the task, and that it was his way of still showing he cared.

The man sat up quickly, "Yes ma'am. My apologies. Mister Malfoy is one of our most loyal customers, wouldn't want to upset him. What is it that I can help you with?" He asked, fear now filling his voice as Narcissa realized the scary amount of power Lucius truly held.

"My husband once bought me a necklace from here some time ago." Narcissa answers, her voice that of a lady as she stared down at the shop keep she still had no respect for. "For our anniversary. I seem to have misplaced it." She says, hoping the man would catch on.

"Oh yes," The shop keep answers, thinking back on it. "I think I remember the exact necklace. It was a silver one, if I remember correctly, that held only the rarest of emeralds. Only the best of my products for a Malfoy." He answered with a wicked smile.

"Yes," Narcissa answered, thankful that the shop keep remembered exactly the item, seeing as how she didn't know anything more about it herself other than the fact that it was a necklace, having nothing to base her own description of the necklace off of. "Our anniversary is next week." She tells him, as her and Draco had rehearsed. "It would be a true disappointment to Lucius if I did not have the necklace to wear for such a special occasion." She warns, holding her chin high now. "Is it possible I could get a replica of such a necklace?"

"Let me see what I have," The shop keep answers, stepping away from the desk to another room off to the side of the one where Narcissa currently sat. Curiosity got the best of her as she peaked around the corner of the curtain, looking in to see how Lucius was doing.

She watched as he paced in front of the cabinet, staring up at the dark-colored wooden corner of the cabinet in front of him, it standing nearly two feet over his own personal height. Lucius looked confused as he pointed his wand at the cabinet one last time, only the tip of his wand poking out past his sleeve as she watched his lips move quickly, not a word being said before he started pacing in front of it again, saying another incantation. This one appeared to have worked as Lucius turns around, winking back at his wife as he saw her staring at him.

"Found one," The shop keep answered, causing Narcissa to drop the curtain, quickly turning around and sitting up straight and proper. "How does this look?" He asks, holding up a necklace inside the case, making sure not to touch the necklace itself as Narcissa's eyes grew wide in awe at the sight of such a beautiful necklace.

It was nothing like Draco had prepared her for, emerald beads lining the neck that draped low down the neckline to a rather large gem in the center, shaped similar to a flower. The center most gem was a shining emerald, surrounded by diamond shaped silver slivers, and four emeralds on the outside of the flower. It was beautiful, possibly the prettiest necklace Narcissa had ever seen.

"It's perfect," She answered with a smile. "Looks identical."

"Brilliant, and if you don't mind?" Mr. Borgin asked, taking the necklace out of the case, holding it up as if offering to put it around her neck.

Excitement of wearing the necklace filled Narcissa, having never wore a piece of jewelry so beautiful in all of her life before realizing who she was supposed to be and what she was supposed to be doing there at Borgin and Burkes.

"I think not!" She answers, standing up firmly as she returned to the better-than-thou attitude. She was a Malfoy, she reminded herself, she had to act as such, even just for now. "My husband is not supposed to know I am buying this! How would it look if I walked out with it on!" She reached into her handbag, pulling out the galleons Draco had given her, at least a dozen of them in the small bag, if not two dozen. "Take the money." She demanded of the man, holding her head high. "And wrap the package. My husband is waiting!"

"Ye-Yes ma'am." The shop keep answers nervously, taking the coins from the table as he went back to wrap the package and Narcissa came out from the back, rejoining Lucius finally.

"Did it work?" She asks softly, finally able to talk in her own voice.

"Yes," He answers coldly, looking at the Vanishing Cabinet one last time as Borgin comes out from the back.

"Your purchase is ready." He says, handing Narcissa a bag that she took cautiously, careful not to touch the man's hand.

"What is that?" Lucius asks, eying Narcissa as he knew his father would do.

"A personal purchase," Narcissa answers, "A special something."

Lucius nods, reaching into his pocket, as if to pay the man as him and Hermione had planned, her remembering exactly what Draco had told her to say as she quickly snarled her nose.

"Don't pay the man!" She said firmly, a snarl in her voice matching that covering her face. "He has already been paid for his services which were mediocre to say the least." She tells her husband in disgust, her nose immediately going into the air.

"I see..." Lucius answered coldly, an evil glare in his eye at his wife's response to her service, "Fine, come Narcissa. Draco has already boarded the train. I want to make sure we are there to see him home."

Lucius led the way out of the dark and gloomy store as Narcissa followed onto the cobblestone road, looking down at her feet as she followed Lucius through Knockturn Alley, avoiding eye contact with the spooky and sometimes almost bone-chillingly scary witches and wizards that walked the darkened alleyway, leading her back into the busy street of Diagon Alley and into the darkened Leaky Cauldron where they caught some suspicious glances, wizards shocked that Lucius and Narcissa were downgrading to floo'ing instead of disapparating and they returned back to the Shrieking Shack just in time that the spell wore off.

Hermione looked down at Narcissa's clothes before smiling as she ran over, hugging Draco. "Draco! That was brilliant! No one had any idea!" She said, laughing as he smirked back slightly, the corner of his lip raising in satisfaction.

"I suppose I can act like my father rather well." He said as his smirk turned into a smile. "Really didn't see us being able to play that off so well."

"So, we should probably get headed back now then," Hermione whispers, looking down as the realization hit her that they would eventually have to go back. That Draco hadn't promised her what would happen once they did go back.

"Well, I was thinking." Draco answers, putting a lot of thought into what he was saying before the words came out of his mouth. "And maybe one more night here couldn't hurt. The old koot wouldn't know one way or the other whether we broke the cabinet tonight or tomorrow morning. It would give us one more night together and one more morning at the...that muggle cafe." He says, hoping Hermione wouldn't read too far into what he was saying as she looked up in shock, showing that she had and causing Draco to curse to himself.

"You mean stay another night?" She asks, wiping the tears from her eyes. "What difference would that make Draco? I mean..."

"You mean, you assumed that once we got back we would be able to sleep in the same bed still?" He asks, trying to hide the sting in his voice as Hermione made the realization that it wouldn't be the same once they got back. As she realized that Draco could just as easily ignore her the moment they returned to Hogwarts and no one would know what had happened between the two of them. That he had not only taken her virginity, but made love to her as well.

"So that's it then." She answered as tears filled her eyes and she turned away to hide the single one dripping down her cheek. "We sleep together tonight, go back to Hogwarts and it's like nothing ever happened. I was nothing to you."

"I didn't say that Hermione." Draco answers, wrapping his arms around her as she quickly shrugged him off. "I don't know what's going to happen once we get back to Hogwarts." He said honestly, still playing out in his own head how he was going to protect her from what he knew, for his own family, he had to become. "But you won't just be Granger, the mudblood, to me anymore. You...look, even we are together after all of this," He explains, hoping she would understand. "We won't be able to sleep in the same bed, or eat breakfast together like we can now. Hogwarts wouldn't allow it, Dumbledore wouldn't. I just want one more night of that."

Softly Hermione nods her head, understanding now what Draco was getting at. "Fine," She answers, "We will go back tomorrow."


	13. Secret Safe

Draco woke up the next morning, stretching as he faced the early morning sunlight before realizing he still had Hermione laying underneath his arm, curled up in his bare chest from the night before. Nothing had happened between them, nothing more than the two of them sitting there in front of the fire warming them in the chimney of the Shrieking Shack, both sitting up as Draco got drunk on the sound of Hermione's laugh and the twinkle in her eye while Hermione teased Draco affectionately, causing him to occasionally laugh out, showing a sparkling white smile that she could only describe as mesmerizing until they both saw the warm orange color of the early morning sunrise peaking through the cracks of the Shack, neither wanting for the night to end as they laid in bed and eventually drifted off to sleep.

As Draco looked down at Hermione sleeping on his chest, her peaceful figure as her hand was curled up next to her face, her hair surrounding her face sloppily. He couldn't hide the smile as he watched her sleeping before it clicked in his head. She looked innocent when she was sleeping, perfectly innocent. That was what he had to do to protect her, he had to keep her safe from what he was about to become and now, he knew exactly how he was going to do it.

Draco carefully moved out from underneath Hermione's sleeping body, cautiously getting dressed while trying to stay quiet as she stirred awake.

"Draco," Hermione whispered, looking at him in betrayal, wondering if he were trying to leave her there alone.

"Relax Hermione," Draco answered, shaking his head. "I am simply getting dressed. We can't exactly go to that muggle cafe with me shirtless." He said before smirking, "Hate to see what Hermione Granger would do if she actually had to duel to keep a man, especially dueling a muggle."

Hermione shook her head in disbelief at the sound of Draco's words as she sat up herself, stretching as Draco's mouth dropped open. It was truly a beautiful sight, watching her flexed back as she stretched her back, her stomach muscles tensing up around her naval as her breasts, still contained by her bra, forced upward into the air. _Don't think about her naked, _Draco reminded himself, trying to fight against the natural urges of his manhood, _Today is about enjoying her mind, her thoughts, her soul. _Hermione stopped flexing, blushing as she watched his mouth dropped open.

"Sorry about that," Draco whispers, looking down himself with a blush. "We should probably get dressed, aye?"

Nodding Hermione stood up and got dressed, tossing her grey, long-sleeved shirt over her head, brushing her hectic, frizzy hair out of her face, thankful simply to have it back to her own hair again as she threw on a pair of jeans and the familiar scent of fresh parchment and Draco's spearmint gum filled her senses again, nearly causing her to melt to her knees as his lips softly met her neck as did a cold metal.

"What is? No, Draco." Hermione said, fingering the familiar necklace around her neck, not having to look at it to realize tht it was the one they had bought the day before. Turning around, she looked to face him, himself wearing his black slacks, white button-up shirt, and the traditional Slytherin tie. "I can't wear this." She said, before he hushed her, putting his finger up to her lips.

"I want you to," He whispers, hugging her close. "Otherwise, all this was for nothing. My mother can not have two of the same necklace, it would raise suspicion. Keep it with you, at home of course." He said, already knowing his plan. "It would look a bit out of the ordinary for you to be wearing it at Hogwarts." He said with a smirk.

Hermione nodded her head, still feeling bad for taking a gift that had cost him so much but holding it close to her heart. "I'll keep it." She whispers, "Close." Softly she kissed him before they headed down the stairs of the Shrieking Shack and out into the yard. It was safe for them to walk down to Hogsmeade to floo out to Leaky Cauldron, their backpacks that Dumbledore had packed over their shoulders as Draco held Hermione's hand.

"It is rather nice, you know." Hermione said with a smile. "School is over, we can walk freely together." She said as the smell of freshly cut grass filled her nostrils and the cold touch of Draco's hand against her own, his fingers intertwined with hers as she felt his class ring against her own ring finger. "The village is more like a ghost town then anything." She said with a laugh.

Smirking, Draco led her into one of the pubs, opening the door for her as he bowed slightly, "After you, mi'lady," He said with a smirk, causing Hermione to giggle as she entered the building, tossing in a handful of floo powder before floo'ing them both to the Leaky Cauldron to head to the cafe.

* * *

Draco took his last memory of Hermione in the cafe, the way that the sunlight shined off of her curls as the couple walked into Dumbledore's empty office after eating a typical muggle breakfast in the cafe.

"Granger," He whispered as Hermione placed the time turner around both of their necks, looking at him oddly.

"Yes Draco?" She asked, confused as to why he was calling her by her surname once more, and concerned by the thought as well.

"Kiss me one last time," He whispered, a tightening choke in his throat as he asked the question, knowing it may be the last time he ever got to feel her gentle lips against his own.

Hermione nodded, pressing her lips against his, still tasting the spearmint of his toothpaste on his tongue as the kiss deepened, the two of them wrapping their arms around each other in a tightened embrace. Hermione felt her arms wrapped around his shoulders as she tasted a different, yet familiar taste on Draco's lips. A salty taste that she couldn't quite place, but knew she had tasted on her own lips before. As the two pulled away, Draco avoided eye contact as Hermione spun the time turner, knowing that no matter how much she spun it, as the time turner said 'I have yet to outrun the sun', meaning that it would not go any further in time than where they had originally left.

People sped past the couple, items moved, sunlight and darkness fading in and out of the room as simply as moments and seconds until the sights made Draco sick them moving so fast, forcing him to close his eyes to fight the nausea of losing Hermione and speeding through years as if they were only eye blinks.

Finally as the room stopped, Draco opened his eyes as Hermione pulled the necklace from around Draco's neck, tucking it in her shirt and both teens turned to face an empty room. Hermione slowly walked over to the calender, knowing Dumbledore was still upstairs in his living quarters above the office.

"June 1996," Hermione read off, "We are back." She said before embracing Draco in a hug. "We did it!" She said with a laugh.

"Yea," He answers distantly, "We did. Should probably go check on Potter and Weasel-bee. I'm sure you miss them." He said distantly as Hermione nodded her head in excitement and her and Draco headed to the spiral staircase leading down to the exit of the Headmaster's Quarters. Hermione knew, and Draco assumed, that Dumbledore would probably never again mention the task he had sent them on. It was dangerous and highly illegal and only a fool would mention it, Draco told himself, as Hermione walked in front of him. He knew what he had to do.

"Hey Granger," He said, stopping on the stairs as Hermione turned around quickly, only to face Draco's hawthorn wand.

"Draco..." Hermione whispered in fear, tears welling up in her eyes. "What...what are you doing?"

"I'm protecting you." Draco answered, his face tense as he fought back the urge to cry, his jaw tense as his wand shook in his hand and his voice pleaded with her. "Can't you see Hermione," He asked, "I...I have to do this. You are a mudblood. You...you are not safe with me...I have to keep you safe." He said, his voice cracking with tears.

"Don't Draco," Hermione begged as tears fell down her own cheeks. "Please, I love you." She pleaded, asking him not to do what he knew he had to.

"I love you too." Draco whispers through a cracked voice, his throat tensing up around the tears he was choking to fight back. "Obliviate."

Suddenly, Hermione's eyes glazed over as the memories of the past two months, and yet, the past 30 seconds, wiped from her mind. All the kisses her and Draco had shared, the nights they had spent expressing their hatred and then their love in conjoining bodies, and the triumphs and tribulations of fighting of the Blasted-Ended Skewrt, teaching each other magical tricks, and facing Borgin and Burkes left her mind, the only thing left as a reminder being the emerald and silver necklace that she had taken off before they came back and placed in her pocket. She stared in confusion as to where she was and what she was doing there at Draco, getting ready to ask, until footsteps headed up the stairs and turning around, she faced the coldened face of none other than her Potions professor, Severus Snape.

"Going somewhere?" He asked coldly, looking from Draco to Hermione and raising an eyebrow.

"Ye...yes sir." Hermione answered, rubbing her head, still confused as she moved past him, making sure to move against the wall and not touch him as she slid past. "Just ummm...down to see Harry and Ron in the Hospital Wing." She answered, remembering that much.

"And you?" Snape asked, eyeing Draco suspiciously.

"To pack my things," Draco answered with a hardened snarl, trying to hide the emotion he had just let out and cover it carefully with hatred and spite as he brushed past Snape coldly.

"Well?" Dumbledore asked once Snape entered his office. "Are they back?"

"Like they never left." Snape answers coldly, "Caught the tail end of their conversation and-"

"He protected her?" Dumbledore asks, already knowing the answer.

"Precisely." The Potion Master answered coldly, "Although it is rather distasteful of you. Using children as pawns in your own game." He said, already have a foul taste in his mouth for what the Headmaster had asked he himself to do.

"Ahh Severus," Dumbledore answers, moving over to his window to look out upon the Black Lake as he spoke, nearly to himself instead of Snape. "They weren't pawns. Call it instead, inter-house bonding. Don't you agree that the battle between Gryffindor and Slytherin has gone on for far too long?"

Snape ignored the comment, knowing this was another reference to him being rude to Potter for his father's actions, instead focusing on the task at hand. "And yet," He answered, his voice hardened, "You promised to help Draco Malfoy. How do you intend on doing that if you want me to- to-" He couldn't even finish the words without feeling his own stomach curl.

"That's simple Severus," Dumbledore answered, turning around to face him as Snape looked into the eyes of the wisest wizard he knew, the one that vowed to keep even him safe against all odds and, although not being the same way the young man had planned, had in fact succeeded. "You see, when he comes to kill me, I simply won't fight back."


	14. The Dark Lord's Dark Mark

Draco had many sleepless nights since obliviating Hermione. He figured sleeping would at least help, attempting to spend the first handful of nights (and days) back at the Manor not leaving his four-poster bed, trying to sleep off the feel of her skin, the taste of her kisses, and the passion she held in everything, down to the way that she walked. He figured he had nothing better to do, his father being in Azkaban, his mother being otherwise distracted as she kept attempting to send him owls, and his Auntie Bellatrix' laugh ringing out through the oversized house that seemed to only make him feel smaller and less like a person.

However the sleep appeared to do the opposite, only showing Draco what he no longer had. That appeared to be the one place where he could no longer seperate himself from Hermione. The one place where her soul still haunted him as he drempt of her laugh, her smile in the sunlight, and the worst of the nightmares, the tears in her eyes as she begged him not to protect her. These dreams, the ones that the mud blood appeared to haunt, were now what caused Draco to stay up at night, staring into the fire as he faced the day he dreaded.

As August 6th rolled around after another sleepless night of August 5th, Draco shuddered at the sound of his Auntie's disturbing laugh.

"Come Drakey," She cackled in glee, "It's time to face him. To take your place beside him."

A sinking feeling filled Draco as he nodded, stepping forward only to be grabbed by none other than his Potions Professor. He looked down, fighting the thoughts of Hermione back. Trying not to hear Severus Snape's voice calling her an 'insufferable know-it-all'. Trying not to think of what she would say if she saw him walking into the darkened room, lit only by candles along the walls that gave off an almost eeire glare, towards his fate as he stood before a dozen caped figures, their faces covered by the same mask he knew his father held, though had never seen him wear. He could feel Hermione's shudder against his arm, though she was miles away, probably studying in her muggle bedroom having no memories of their love, as he looked at the Death Eater masks, one by one and each one different and yet the same.

"Clear your mind." Snape told Draco as the boy nodded, knowing the message had double meaning and Draco forced Hermione to the back of his mind, locking the thought of her deep in a box in the back of his mind where he knew not even the Dark Lord would find it. Slowly, with fear in his eyes and a shiver in his step Draco moved forward.

He bowed before the front-most cloaked form, this one in red instead of the black that the others wore before it bowed back. "Another Malfoy," The voice said with a hint of pride in his voice. "Your father will be proud."

"I am not doing this for my father." Draco answers, hiding the fear that he held.

"No," The Dark Lord answered, pulling his cloak back to expose a face that caused Draco to shudder. The man's face was pale, nearly to a blue tint and the top of his head covered in dark-colored veins. The man's nose was no longer enough to consider a nose, instead simply being two slits, his eyes glaring red. "You're not, are you?" He asks as one of the Death Eaters dragged Narcissa out, tossing her to the floor as Draco shuddered with fear. Bellatrix and Severus both raised their hoods, hiding their own faces beneath Death Eater masks as the Dark Lord circled Narcissa, staring down at her like an animal ready to attack. "It's not for your father, is it?"

Draco stared ahead at his mother in fear, seeing the fear mirroring in her own eyes as the Dark Lord pointed his wand down at her.

"CRUCIO!" He hollered as Narcissa withered in pain, her screams filling the room. The bare, darkened walls echoed the sound of her cries as tears welled up in Draco's eyes. His world was falling apart with each scream of agony. His father was gone, unable to protect Draco and his mother as he had been for the past sixteen years. No longer was his father there to stop the Dark Lord, to keep him and his mother from being used as pawns in the Dark Lord's evil plans.

He watched, his world falling apart, as his mother, the strongest woman Draco knew withered in pain, her back arching in unnatural ways as her muscles tensed up. As the proud woman who was now a Malfoy, who had raised him to be nothing less than the best, cried out in an almost animalistic scream, thrashing on the ground until it was too much for him. He would give up his own life, right then and there, just to keep her safe.

"STOP! PLEASE!" He begged, looking down at his mother momentarily, listening to her screams still echoing in his mind as the Dark Lord broke the Unforgivable Curse and before Draco could blink, was in his own face, yanking him back by his hair, staring deep into Draco's eyes. Searching through Draco's mind painfully, forcing his way into cupboards and doors within Draco's mind, seeing his deepest secrets within. The Dark Lord watched as Draco got his acceptance letter, as he got fitted for his robes and got sorted into Slytherin. He watched as the young boy teased and tortured a young Harry, only making school more miserable for him. The Dark Lord watched as a slightly older boy asked a fourteen year old girl to the Yule Ball, his eyes in awe as the girl who was once more of a little sister to him, now stood before Draco in the beauty of a young woman. Finally, he saw Draco laying in bed, crying as his mother and Bellatrix argued in the other room over Lucius being in Azkaban, the Dark Lord misinturpeting Draco's tears as those for his father instead of the muggle-born he had loved.

"Hold out your arm," The Dark Lord says coldly as Draco nods his head, feeling violated that his own thoughts and feelings had been vandalized. His arm shaking, he holds it out left arm, a shiver showing in his hand. The Dark Lord's wand pointed at Draco's forearm, sending a burning pain stabbing through his bones, every cell of his body, down to his hair. Goosebumps covered Draco's body as even they screamed out in pain as every nerve ending stood in pain, causing his head to thrash back in pain as he gritted his teeth and fought against the urge to scream out. The pain ended suddenly as Draco felt the wand leave his skin, the Dark Mark suddenly appearing. "Your first task," He said with a demented, evil looking smile as Draco nodded his head softly, knowing he was doing this to protect his mother, to keep her safe from the wraith if he didn't. "Kill Dumbledore." The Dark Lord said with an evil laugh as Draco felt the urge to throw up right then and there.

* * *

The streets of Diagon Alley looked nothing like what Draco remembered from whenever he and Hermione had walked through the streets as Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy. The streets that were once a chipper welcoming to any child looking to go to Hogwarts, crowded and colorful and a sweet comfort to the Slytherin boy was now darkened and gloomy, boards covering up the windows of the shops that had already been overtaken by Death Eaters (like yourself, Draco reminded) or whose shopkeeps had already been abducted, like Mr. Ollivander.

"Come along Draco," Narcissa says, her hand on her son's back as she guided the boy that no longer reminded her of her innocent son into Madam Malkin's. Narcissa couldn't help but feel disgust for what had happened over the summer, blaming both Lucius and the Dark Lord for her son's difference in behavior.

Whenever Draco had come back home for Christmas break during his 5th year, he was happy. He was the proud boy who bragged to his mother and father about how he had made the Inquisitorial Squad, how he was going to get extra credit for helping Undersecertary Delores Umbridge catch the children who were sneaking around behind the Ministry's back. Narcissa and Lucius had been so proud of Draco that they had taken him out to celebrate at only the finest of wizarding resteraunts followed by a wonderful evening at a wizarding theatre.

Everything had changed whenever Draco came back from Hogwarts for the summer, after Lucius had already been arrested for 'malacious activities' at the Ministry. Her son came back darkened, colder. It was nearly as if something inside of her son had died whenever Lucius had been arrested, like both of them were now sitting there, facing the dementors instead of just one.

Draco no longer talked to his mother like he used to, no longer told her about his day or what was on his mind. He never discussed his wishes to be the best at Quidditch with her over an early morning cup of tea like he had in the past. Never told her about what he was planning to learn, or how Harry Potter was getting in the way of whatever big plans he had.

Narcissa only had one person to blame this on, one person who was tearing her family apart. Voldermort. He was the reason, in her mind, that her perfect son no longer talked to her. Why he no longer told her anything and everything that he thought about. She had heard her son in the middle of the night. Voldermort was the reason her precious son no longer slept.

"Come inside, it is about time for new robes," Narcissa said, guiding him into the store front as Draco followed silently, his mind and body both numbed from Hermione.

"Don't see the point in going here," He groaned as Madam Malkin took his measurements, checking his height and the width of his waist. The woman continued to take measurements, her measuring tape moving around him on it's own as it was guided by magic, checking the girth of the boy's neck and length of his arms. "We can get better robes down in Knockturn Alley." He said with a sneer as Narcissa watched on, ignoring her son's comments of distaste as Madam Malkin handed Draco a pair of robes for him to put on and get fitted.

Draco did as the woman asked, putting the black robes on over his clothes, looking down as the woman started on the hem of his right arm. He distanced himself, nearly numbing his own mind as she continued to work along on the sleeve of his robes before moving over to the left arm.

It was then that Draco heard the bell above the front door of the shop, followed by a few familiar voices. At first, the voices mumbled together until one of them caught Draco's attention, causing him to jump at the musical sound of the female voice. "Watch where your poking with that needle, woman!" He said, venom in his voice as he yanked away from her in pain.

It was then that the cheerful voices got colder as they rounded the corner and Draco looked into the eyes of one of the trio, his heart breaking all over again. The knot rose back up into his throat as he looked on, past the red-headed Weasley, past his worst enemy wearing large, rounded glasses with messy hair and a stern look on his face, to the closed, stern mouthed girl standing with them, her hair staticy and frizzy. Even from the distance he stood, up on the pedastool where he was getting fitted, Draco could see the perfect chocolate color within her eyes, smell the flowery scent of her perfume. His heart tore in two as he looked back down to where the woman was stitching his robes.

"Look who's here?!" Draco sneered, hiding his pain with a face of disgust. "_The Chosen One, _Weasel-Bee, and-" He stopped, forcing a snarl in his nose as his heart broke, looking into Hermione's eyes. He hated that he couldn't be near her, that he couldn't have the time with her that he once did, and that he was taking it out on her.

Harry raised his wand as Narcissa stepped in front of him like a bear ready to protect her cub. "Do NOT touch my son." She said fiercely, her tone one of dominance. It was one that even shocked Draco, having never heard his mother stand up for anything. "If you EVER attack him, I will ensure it is the last thing you ever do."

"Or what are you going to do?" Harry asks, his own eyes narrowing in fury. "Send your husband's Death Eater friends after me?"

Draco didn't hear the rest of the conversation as his eyes latched onto Hermione. He could almost hear her laugh, how it had filled the room like a beautiful music. The way she looked wearing nothing more than her knickers and a bra, laying on the bed. Draco's mind wandered off to previous conversations the two had held, conversations where she would laugh, her entire face lighting up, the way that she made him so mad that he couldn't think straight. Suddenly, not even realizing he had been staring at her the entire time, Draco was brought back to reality as he felt the shop keep move closer to his new stain that tainted his arm.

"Will you WATCH where you are poking that needle?!" He said again, more of a yell in his voice as he watched Madam Malkin move further up his arm. Quickly he yanked it away, jerking his arm back to him as he tried to cover the hurt in his voice from seeing his love, from wanting to talk to her and knowing there was nothing he could say to make up for what he had done, and replace it with fury. "Honestly Mother, can't we go somewhere else? I am tired of being in this bloody store and being used as a pin cushion!"

Narcissa nodded her head softly, "Come along then," She said to him before glaring back at the woman who had hurt her precious son and nearly given away his secret that he bare on his arm as the two of them walked out of the shop, not noticing as Harry, Ron, and Hermione quickly followed suspiciously. The mother and son didn't notice as the trio followed them into the darkened, damp alleyway of Knockturn Alley. Draco didn't notice as the trio hid behind a corner, looking from one side to the other behind him before walking once again into Borgin and Burkes, Narcissa following him.

"There is only one answer," Harry said a few weeks later as they rode on the train to Hogwarts, Hermione and Ron already sickened by hearing nothing more than Harry contemplating how and why Draco was going into the shop.

"It's not possible," Hermione answered, looking up from her own book. The girl couldn't explain why it didn't make sense, logically it should have (even in her own mind) made perfect sense what Harry was continuously insinuating. Draco could be a Death Eater, it running in the family as much as it already had, from what little bit Sirius had told Harry about his family, and yet she couldn't believe it. She couldn't pinpoint exactly what it was, having no fond memories, or even mediocre memories of Draco Malfoy other than the time that she had punched him in the face, and really that wasn't even enough to be considered a fond memory. Despite that fact though, something tore at Hermione, gut instinct perhaps or women's intuition, telling her that there was no way Draco Malfoy would ever take the Dark Mark. Something told her that he was a better person than doing something so evil, although she couldn't explain what or why.


	15. Disturbing Dreams

"Ah Harry, decided to join us?" Slughorn asks as Harry walks into Potions class the first morning, without choice after McGonagall had volunteered for him and Ron to take Potions class, saying it was mandatory for them to take if they were, in fact, still wanting to become Aurors. Harry couldn't argue the fact that he did still want to be an Auror, so instead he simply trudged along, dragging Ron with him into the classroom. "And who did you bring with you?"

"Ronald Weasley, sir." Harry answers awkwardly as the entire class stared on at him, reminding him of whenever he went to the muggle school, long before he got accepted at Hogwarts, and was called out by one of his professors to answer a question he didn't know. It was a feeling that, over the years, Harry had come to dread.

"Good, good. Well, you and Wallabee can come over, just open your books-" Slughorn started before Harry inturupted.

"We don't have books sir, either one of us."

"That's fine," Slughorn answered, "Just get your books from the cupboard. Now," He said, turning back to the class. "Who can tell me what this potion is?" He asked, lifting up the lid of the cauldron to expose a pearly potion shimmering near the rim as steam spiraled out of it in beautiful ribbon-like designs, filling the room with a beautiful scent that everyone could smell. Hermione raised her hand with enthusiasm, being the only one in the class to raise her hand. "Miss.." He called out, waiting for the student to say their name, as Draco smelt the familiar scent of freshly mowed grass, sending him back to the last morning he had shared with Hermione.

"Granger sir," The voice answers, causing Draco to look up at the voice. "The potion is Amortentia. It's the most powerful love potion in the world."

"Good, excellent. And what makes this potion different than any other?" Slughorn asks, interested that Hermione knew about the potion as she smelt familiar smells that she couldn't place. She didn't know why they were important, only that they were.

"It's smell is unique to each person," Hermione answers, swallowing softly as she felt her voice choke up. "It is supposed to be the most attractive smells to the person. For example, I smell new parchment, freshly cut grass and-" She stopped as Draco stared at her, time standing still. He knew scent was the sense that was most memory-orientated. _This can't be happening,_ he told himself in fear that Hermione was remembering. That her safety was at risk because she would suddenly turn to him, remembering the nights they shared. Instead she stared at the potion, re-awakening from the trance that she was in. "spearmint toothpaste." She whispered, mesmerized, before turning to look back up at the professor.

"Thank you Miss Granger." Slughorn answered as Draco toned the rest of the subject out in relief before being brought back to reality by Blaise.

"Come on," The Italian Slytherin who had been Draco's friend for the past six years said, nudging Draco back over to the cauldrons.

"What did that idiot say?" Draco asked with a snarl, tilting his head towards Slughorn.

"Have to brew Draught of Liquid Death." Blaise answers with a sigh. "Winner gets a vial of Liquid Luck. What do you want to bet the mudblood gets it?" He snarled, glancing over at Hermione who was already at work on the potion.

"Yea," Draco answers distantly, having too many other things to focus on, like his own life, Hermione's, and that of his mother to deal with the everyday worries that his fellow classmates like Blaise and Pansy were, who although working on the potion, were flirting back and forth over their cauldrons.

Draco went through the usual routine of the day, walking from class to class as he was supposed to, doing what he was supposed to as a friend to Blaise, Crabbe, and Goyle by nodding his head when he was supposed to, adding in the occasional 'yeah' or 'okay'. None of them seemed to notice the difference as Draco sat there supper in the Great Hall, staring off into the distance.

He had broken a vanishing cabinet, with Hermione's help of course, and he couldn't deny that she was genius. How was he supposed to fix one on his own, with no help from anyone, and where would he even find it? It made no sense inside his own head how he was supposed to do this. What did the Dark Lord expect him to do? At least Dumbledore had offered him someone to help, now he was all on his own. There had to be another way to kill Dumbledore besides that. There had to.

"I'm going to ummm...study." Draco mumbled more to himself than anyone else under his breath before getting up to leave. Walking out, he back to the dorms, flopping down on his bed as he stared up at the ceiling. _Think Draco,_ he reminded himself, _Focus._ He concentrated on a way until his eyelids grew heavy and he drifted off into a sleep.

Draco found himself in the Shrieking Shack once more in his dream, Hermione standing in front of him.

_"You have betrayed me Draco," She whispers, hurt in her voice as she still wore his mother's dress from the day they took the polyjuice potion. "I expected to leave with you. To visit Paris and Italy. To see the world."_

_Draco looked down at his feet, ashamed of himself as Hermione continued._

_"I smell you everywhere I go. You surround me."_

_"You surround me too." Draco answered, a choke in his voice. "I love you."_

_"LIES!" Hermione yelled at him as the floor fell out from beneath Draco. _

_He felt himself falling through the pitch black air before landing inside a tiny black box that smelt familiar, like old cedar. Opening the door of the box, he found himself facing Lucius with his wand pointed at the box. Draco looked up to see it was the vanishing cabinet he had changed. _

_"You have disappointed me Draco." He said coldly, a dark glare in his eyes. "I asked one thing of you, to protect your mother."_

_"But I have," Draco answers desperately as Narcissa withered on the floor behind him, screaming out in pain as she had under the Dark Lord's curse. _

_"DOES SHE LOOK PROTECTED?!" Lucius hollers as Narcissa continued to scream in the background. "Where is it Draco? Where is IT?"_

_"Where is what?" Draco asked over the chilling screams of his mother as he watched Nagini moved closer to Narcissa, trailing back and forth along the floor, darting her tongue out as she gleamed at Narcissa as a comforting meal. _

_"Where is the necklace?!" Lucius yells again, "The one you took from your mother?!"_

_"I...I didn't." Draco answers in fear, his eyes not leaving Nagini as she moved closer to his mother. "STOP HER!" He yelled over Narcissa's screams as Lucius stared down at him in disgust. _

_"Save her yourself." Lucius answers, "The Necklace!" _

_"What necklace?!" Draco cries out as the snake stands up to strike at a screaming Narcissa. "Protect my mother!"_

_"I can't," Lucius answers, taking a few steps back as the snake stuck out it's tongue again, sniffing the air. _

_"HELP HER!" Draco yelled, his legs stuck in place as he tried to run for his mother, wanting to get in the way, make the snake attack him instead._

_Lucius starts to shake his head, his white hair falling down onto the floor around him as his eyes turned into the evil red color that Draco now dreaded and his nose turned into two slivers, his form changing into Voldermort's. _

_"Kill him," The Dark Lord told him, "Or I'll kill her." Suddenly the snake strikes, red filling Draco's sight as he felt his body shaking._

"Malfoy, wake up!" Goyle hollered, shaking Draco awake.

"What the hell!?" Draco hollered, feeling wet spots on his cheeks from where he had been crying in his sleep as he woke up in a cold, sticky sweat.

"You were screaming." Goyle told him as Draco sat up, looking around the lit room to see Blaise, Crabbe, and Nott staring at him in concern.

"What was that about?" Blaise asks with concern for his best mate, Nott and Crabbe both knowing better than to ask about having a bad dream after having seen enough themselves to cause the Dark Lord himself to have nightmares.

"Nothing," Draco answers, wiping his hand with his face before laying back down. "It was nothing."


	16. Poison Potentials

Draco had spent months trying to decipher the dream he had held, each night it getting more and more haunting until finally he placed it down to one thing. Now, holding the coin Hermione had given him from the DA in case they got separated in Knockturn Alley, Draco focused on the date and time he wanted to meet the barkeep. Never before had he used an Unforgivable Curse, having never seen the purpose of using one until now. Now, he had Madam Rosemerta, the bottle-haired blonde, obeying his every command.  
"Are you coming?" Blaise asked, walking into the dormitories as he looked over at Draco. Softly Draco pocketed the immitation galleon like a precious stone before looking back up at the other Slytherin.

"Yea," He answered, "Let's go. I'm ready to get out of this blasted school for a while. Maybe meet some of the others down at Three Broomsticks. I could use a butterbeer." He said, causing Blaise to stare at him in awe. It had been the most words he had spoken in months. "Come on Zabini." Draco snarled, standing up and walking out of the room as Blaise followed him up the stairs, out of the castle, and into Hogsmeade.

Draco took his time, appearing to eyeball each shop before heading down to Three Broomsticks. He had the barkeep already waiting upstairs in the rooms for rent under his command, getting ready to get her next request from her seventeen-year-old master on what to do. Heading towards the stairs, Draco froze in his tracks, his mind going blank as he stared on at the trio sitting at the table right on the opposite side of the stairwell. He was face-to-face with Weasley and Potter, neither of which were his concern as he saw the frizzy brown hair that had once flowed freely across his pillow, cradling the beautiful face he kissed. His heart sank.

_This is who you are doing this for, _Draco reminds himself as he heads up the stairs to the empty room. Number 7.

Opening the door, Draco faced a single four-poster bed, a couch and two chairs. Madam Rosemerta sat in one of the chairs, awaiting her master's next command which she would obey with nothing more than a peaceful mind.

"Did you get it?" Draco asked, shutting the door behind him, causing Madam Rosemerta to turn around.

"Yes, just as you requested. One from Knockturn Alley." She answered with a very pleasing tone to Draco.

"Good," He answers, "And it is cursed?" He asked with concern.

"Yes." She answered honestly, just as Mr. Borgin had told her about the necklace.

"Good," Draco answers, hoping this would be enough. "Put the Bell girl under the Imperius Curse. make her give it to Dumbledore." He demanded.

"Yes sir." Madam Rosemerta answered, no fight in her body or mind as she stood up and walked out of the room.

Draco sighed as he put his head in his hands, not wanting to do this. He knew he wasn't a murderer but this way, if he used the Imperius Curse, technically he wouldn't be the one killing Dumbledore. Madam Rosemerta was, the barkeep of The Three Broomsticks. The plan was fool-proof, no way for it to fall back on him. Even if it did somehow get tracked back that Katie Bell, respected member of the Gryffindor Quidditch Team, gave Dumbledore the cursed necklace, even if someone figured out that Madam Rosemerta had given Katie the necklace, it was nearly impossible for anyone to put together that Draco had put Madam Rosemerta under an Unforgivable Curse. It worked out perfectly and then...Draco heard a scream from the other side of the window.

* * *

Draco couldn't help but feel sorry for the girl who had been cursed. Rumors filled the halls for months afterwards, a select few of them owning truth to them, which was normally mixed in with the lies.

"They say it was a dementor, drove her mad enough to grab a cursed necklace and see how far she could run with it before she fell over dead."

"Hole in her glove, I heard but don't know. When I saw her, she wasn't wearing gloves."

"Nearly exploded when she was floating in mid-air. Hagrid had to jump up to grab her body."

"Bathroom floor, just found it laying there."

Those weren't the rumors that sent a chill down Draco's spine though. No, the ones that were quality entertainment as school-girl gossip were something Draco couldn't help but have little interest in. It was the ones that he heard Hermione speak of. The ones that she whispered softly to Potter in the library when they thought no one could hear. The only place Draco could still secretly be close and hear Hermione's sweet voice that he wasn't ready to let go of yet.

"It doesn't matter Harry," She said with a sigh. "Even if you do think Draco Malfoy is up to something, we can't prove it."

"But Hermione-" Harry started as Hermione shook her head. She couldn't explain why, but for some reason, in the pit of her stomach, Hermione couldn't see Draco Malfoy being a Death Eater. She couldn't see him trying to kill Dumbledore.

"I just can't see it Harry, I'm sorry." She answered after a moment of silence, shaking her head as Draco silently sighed out in relief on the other side of the bookshelf. "Anyway, who are you taking to Slughorn's Ball?" She asked, leaning up against a table, the back of her head only a few books away from the front of Draco's as he listened intently.

"Umm...I don't know yet," Harry answered nervously. "I was actually thinking we could go together. As friends of course." He added in lastly, causing Draco's blood to boil with jealousy.

"Why hadn't I thought of that!?" Hermione answered with a huff.

"Why? Are you already going with someone?" Harry asked, trying to hide his shock.

"Well, yes." Hermione answers, "but it's a surprise. Anyway, it's not me I'm worried about. See that girl behind me?" She asked, turning her back to a girl studying in the corner as both Harry and Draco looked over from opposite sides of the bookshelf, seeing a beautiful girl with a dark complexion and even darker spiral curls floating down her back. "That's Romilda Vane. I heard from some of the other girls she was planning on slipping you a love potion, most likely a Wheezing Weasleys product."

Draco didn't hear the rest of the conversation. He honestly didn't care to hear about Potter's girl problems but, if the Vanishing Cabinet he was still attempting to fix didn't work next time he tried using it, maybe a poison would. He could sneak it in easily as this Vane girl had done with the love potion. If she could do it, risking getting caught for a pathetic Slug Ball that he hadn't even been invited to, he could easily sneak in a poison to slip to Dumbledore. Maybe one that smelt like his favorite food...what was it that he had told Draco and Hermione he liked...focus Draco. Yes, that was it. Black Licorice. If the Vanishing Cabinet didn't work whenever he tried it over Christmas break, he would write his Auntie Bella from Hogsmeade, telling her to send him a poison that smelt like black licorice. It was genius. Once again, Hermione's genius mind was helping him. He could kiss her for such a brilliant idea, if he didn't think that it too would risk her safety. No, this was best. He had to keep her safe.


	17. Dumbledore's Determination

Staring straight ahead into the red fire that nearly contradicted with the green of the Slytherin Common Room, Draco couldn't help but feel at a loss. The apple had successfully went from Hogwarts to Borgin and Burkes and back, but the bird...

When he held the dead bird in his hand, it's body stiff from where rigor mortis had already started to kick in, it's little sticklike legs sticking up in the air, an image Draco would never get out of his head. Draco had stared down at the dead bird, instead seeing his own body laying there in his hand. This is what it all boiled down to as he sighed in defeat, got caught, then heard a third degree from his godfather, Severus Snape, begging to help. He couldn't take anymore innocent lives, not Snape's on top of his mother's by failing. Instead he had pushed him away, told his godfather who had always been there to help him, to leave him alone. This task was assigned to him.

Now, as he watched the flames dance in a way he could only dream of dancing with Hermione once more, his heart breaking as he watched the flames intertwine as their legs once had, the heat of the fire reminding him of the passion they had held until Blaise sat down next to him, bringing him back to reality.

"What was that about mate?" Blaise asked, wondering about the supposed gate crashing at the Slug Ball. "You haven't been yourself all year and suddenly you gate crash the Slug Ball." It had been months since Draco had crashed the Slug Ball but Blaise hadn't had a chance to talk to him alone, Draco pretty much making himself unapproachable all year and Blaise couldn't lie, he missed his friend.

"What if," Draco asked distantly, "we are all just born to die?"

"You are seriously worrying me mate." Blaise answered, raising an eyebrow. "What is going on?"

Draco shook his head, his eyes not leaving the flames as he continued. "Wish I could tell you." He answered, rubbing his arm subconsciously. "What if...well, what if you had to break off part of yourself to save someone else?" He asked, trying not to give too much away. "Giving away the only person who has ever let you live so that they don't die?"

Blaise thought this a rather odd question, especially coming from Draco but concerned for his friend answered, "Well if its to protect someone I love then I'd do it. No questions asked. But thats kind of one tracked thinking don't you think? Theres always more than one solution to a problem. Always. So I would think that would be saved as a last resort."

"There are no last resorts," Draco answers in defeat. "Can't you see, that is the only way." He answered with a sigh as if he had already explained everything to Blaise that was running through his head, as he thought like he had been all year, nothing really making sense. "What if you knew you would fail either way?" He asked in questioning. "What if...what if every idea that this person threw at you, that they didn't know they had thrown at you but had, failed. What if they were the smartest person you knew and even they couldn't figure out how to make it work, even though they don't know what it is or that they are helping you?" He asked, his mind rushing.

"Mate your rambling a bit. I'm more than willing to help you with whatever your 'problem' is but you've got to give me more to work with. Right now you sound like your completely mental." Blaise said with a laugh, punching Draco in the arm.

"Yea..." Draco answers distantly, "Mental... Umm...What if...what if you had to let one person die to save others?" He asked quickly, trying to make it make more sense, "But you don't know how to make that sacrifice and no one else does either? What if the only person who can help you, you can't ask for help because, even though they used to complete you, now they don't even know you exist?"

Blaise sat back thinking about Draco's logic. "Well to answer your first question, the needs of all the people always outway the needs of one person. As far as asking the one person who can help you...if they used to complete you and now have no memory of it...I would remind them. Even if only for a short time in order to solve the problem. After that...whatever happens...happens mate." Blaise rubbed his chin thoughtfully as he remembered a time or two where he had to do what was absolutly necissary to succeed.

"That's just it." Draco answers, "They can't remember. The only way to get them to remember is to...to torture them and I can't do that to someone like that. You know that. What...wait Blaise! Your mother's a black widow..." Draco said finally in realization.

"Hey! Don't call her that! So what if she's had..." Blaise began to count on his fingers and when he had to start counting on his second hand, quickly shook his head and continued, "It doesn't matter how many...just don't call her that. What of it?"

"Nevermind," Draco answered, remembering that he still had the bottle of Rosemerta's mulled mead with Slughorn for Dumbledore. If nothing else worked, that would. Dumbledore loved mead, especially when it tasted like black licorice but he needed a back-up plan. "I have to go!" Draco exclaimed, having one last idea. "Crabbe, Goyle, follow me!" He hollered, jumping up as the duo did the same, following him.

As they left the Slytherin Common Room, Draco filled them in on what needed to be done. "I am going to go into that disappearing room that Potter used." He informs them, "You two are going to stand guard. Got it?"

Crabbe and Goyle exchanged glances, unsure of what Draco was getting at but, having never questioned his demands before, nodded their heads in agreement, standing outside the door that Draco opened. "No one comes in." He remindes them as they both nod their heads.

As Draco entered the room, he was reminded of the mission. The broken chairs that surrounded him, a pile of lost mittens, years of collection building them up with sweaters and scarves as well. Anything that had been forgotten with the years sat in the room. It a demented way, it made Draco feel at home, peaceful as he saw broken wands, held together by spell-o-tape, spineless books that with warped pages from rain. The room of fogotten objects, where Draco too had been forgotten. He walked the familiar path to the back of the room, standing in front of the cabinet that held his fate.

* * *

Dumbledore flew down to the Hospital Wing, having heard immediately of Ron Weasley's poisoning in Slughorn's living quarters, Snape following closely behind him as they rushed down the corridors.

"How long are you going to let this madness happen?" Snape asked coldly as he rushed to keep pace with Dumbledore. "Two students now, thanks to Malfoy. Why don't you just stop this?"

"Don't you see Severus?" Dumbledore answers, not slowing down as explained. "This is what he was meant to do. He has to kill me."

"He isn't killing you." Snape answers, "He is nearly killing everyone else in this school. He is dangerous. You have to stop him."

"I can't," Dumbledore answers, "I told him I would keep his mother safe if he helped me."

"Helping you by destroying a vanishing cabinet he would have to fix in the end?" Snape asked, even more confused. "Don't you see, you did nothing but made it harder on him."

"I bought myself time Severus." Dumbledore answers, "I am making him think, making him work it out for himself."

"And in the end?" Snape asks, already knowing the answer.

"In the end, it will be you Severus." Dumbledore tells him, "I trust you to do the right thing."

"Then why? Why all this?" Snape questions.

"Don't you see?" Dumbledore answers, "Don't you see what we did? Two people, two students who because of everything they are, everything they will be are supposed to hate each other. We took that fire, we turned it into something new. Two students who were supposed to do nothing but hate and dispise each other, are now both fighting against everything they have ever believed in to save one another."

"Granger doesn't even remember loving Draco." Snape answers.

"She doesn't have to." Dumbledore reminds him. "She will save him, whether she remembers loving him or not. Something in her mind still tells her he isn't able to kill me."

"But he isn't." Snape says in defeat.

"Precisely," Dumbledore answers, opening the door to the Hospital Ward.


	18. A Torturous Memory

The days faded into one another as Draco sat at the Manor, waiting. Monday faded into Tuesday. Tuesday blended into Wednesday as Wednesday drifted slowly into Thursday. He watched the sun rise and set with little knowledge as July melted into August, September into October. As Lucius was released from Azkaban, Draco watched the leaves fall from the trees, the deep orange tint they held turning to brown. He watched as his childhood home, the place where he had once felt safest, become taken over by the Dark Lord, the wizard who had tortured Draco's mother in front of his own two eyes until he agreed to kill the one man who only wanted to help him.

The only thing holding Draco's sanity together as the Death Eaters moved into his home, as they had their way with his house and his Auntie's haunting cackle filled the house, as he watched the two people he had always seen strongest, his parents, cower in fear in their own home, was the image he had seen in the loo.

He couldn't forget the way her face lit up that last blissful day as the two of them walked through the yards of Hogwarts towards Hogsmeade to the muggle cafe. He couldn't forget the way her frizzy hair surrounded her face, even back in a ponytail, swept away with the wind. The smell of the freshly cut grass around them filled his senses even as December came and went, Christmas not being anything like he had ever remembered at the Manor.

Normally on Christmas, his mother's house elves had the smell of cinnamon filling their home as stunned fairies decorated the stairwell, happiness filling the entire home, along with the soft sound of music playing in the background and hundreds of presents under the tree for Draco alone to open. That was how it had been for years. This year as Draco's seventeenth Christmas rolled around, there were no fairies, no presents under the tree or cinnamon rolls baking in the stone kitchen. Instead, the manor filled with darkness, the only music filling the room being the bone-chilling sound of Bellatrix' laugh or Greyback's howls. No presents sat under the tree for Draco to open this year, the only gift he received was the fact that Hermione had been spotted with Harry Potter in Godric's Hollow. She was still alive.

Draco waited through January for more word on Hermione. How was she doing? Where was she? Never hearing anything on whether or not her body had been found. He couldn't help but fear that she was somewhere, lying dead somewhere in a creek or forest. As February drifted through with the winter snow still falling, he hoped she wasn't injured somewhere. He prayed that Potter was better than he knew him to be and that Hermione was safe and sound somewhere secure. March came with the snow melting, the small budding of flowers near the tree where the peacocks nested as Draco started pacing his room at night, hoping to hear something from a Death Eater that Hermione had been spotted, that a bar keep had seen her in Hogsmeade or she had left Harry's side, returning to Hogwarts where Snape currently resided, never with any luck.

Draco got ready to face the rain of April, ready to see the tiny tulips near the peacock's home bud as the last days of March came to an end, when finally, he heard a cackle.

"HAHAHA!" Bellatrix laughed out, filling the manor with her sadistic laugh. "We found him. We can kill him. HAHAHA. We have Harry Potter!" She cackled with pride in her gleeful laugh. It was almost enough to make Draco throw up what little he had eaten as he ran downstairs in fear of seeing Hermione with him. Instead, the room was empty minus Bellatrix, his mother and his father.

"Where?" Draco asked firmly, starting to feel rage in the fact that this may be one of his Auntie's pranks as she spun around the room, arms held out wide like a young girl dancing in the sunlight as she held her head up to the ceiling laughing.

"We caught Potter! We caught Potter!" She called out with glee, "He'll be here any minute Draco." She said, running over to her nephew with a look of nothing less than ecstasy on her face. "Do you know what this means? The Dark Lord will come! And he will praise us! And forever will our names be known as he raises his hand! Do you know why?!" She asked, hatred in her eyes as she stared at the man who hid the scared little boy from his own family. "BECAUSE WE CAUGHT POTTER!"

Suddenly a group of Snatchers came in the room, Draco's stomach dropping as he saw Hermione being one of them that the Snatchers held captive. "They claim that they don't know a Harry Potter," One of the Snatchers exclaims, holding the sword of Gryffindor. "But I could have sworn this one was him." He said, holding up a boy with a swollen face, his eyes barely slits through which Draco could obviously see, they were green. His stomach sank at the thought of what would happen if his parents, his auntie, found out that Potter was in fact himself. What would they do to Potter? Or worse, what would they do to Hermione for traveling alongside him?

"Draco, come here." Draco heard his mother's voice call, bringing him back to reality as he moved closer to the boy whose face was puffy and red, swollen and misshapen. He recognized a few of the others that Hermione had been brought in with. A dark-complected thin boy about their age stood, his hands bound as Draco recognized him as a member of the Gryffindor House, unable to place the boy's name but knowing that he was one who had dated the youngest Weaslette their sixth year. Also with them was none other than Ronald Weasley. Yes, Hermione being with him, the Weasley boy, another Gryffindor who had dated Potter's precious Weaslette, this had to be Harry Potter. He knew it.

Draco stared at Harry, recognizing all of his familiar features, the slight scar on his nose where Draco had broken it only the year prior, his scar on his forehead, now misshapen and deformed from something that he had gotten into. Draco immediately recognized Potter`s bright green eyes, an obvious trait that made Potter stand out in a crowd anyway, and knew, for Hermione's sake, he couldn't confirm who Potter was.

"Is it him Draco?" Lucius whispered, his face beside that of his son's as Draco could see the excitement in his facial structure for the first time in nearly a year. "If so, we are forgiven. Our debts are repaid. Is it?"

Draco looked back at Harry, unsure of what to say. "I...I can't be sure." He says softly as Lucius stepped back with a sigh.

"We need to be certain Lucius," Narcissa says with fear in her voice. "If there is even a shadow of a doubt, we are all dead where we stand."

"What about the Mudblood then?" Greyback asked as Draco's stomach sank and one of the Snatchers forced Hermione to turn around, facing the Malfoys.

"Yes! Yes! That is her!" Narcissa exclaimed matter-of-factly. "I am sure of it! She was at Madam Malkin's with Potter! She was in the Daily Prophet!" She said, certain that she had the right girl. "Draco that is the Granger girl, isn't it?"

Draco stood there, fighting back the tears in his eyes to hide them from his family as he swallowed back the tenseness in his throat. "I...maybe..." He started as Narcissa looked at him factually. There was no way he could hide her, no way he could deny, claiming that Narcissa was wrong. It was too obvious, blatantly obvious. "Yes." He answered, looking everywhere but at Hermione as he said the word of betrayal, silently apologizing to her in his head.

"But then...I should have known." Lucuis said, his eyes suddenly opening for the first time at the boy he didn't realize was standing in front of him as a prisoner. "That's the Weasley boy! It's him, Arthur Weasley's son! What's his name."

"Yea," Draco answered, turning his back to Hermione. He couldn't let her face him as he betrayed her now worse than ever, as he offered her up for anyone to take and torture for them to find out whether or not the swollen faced boy was in fact Harry Potter. He only had one option, to try and take it all back. "It might be. I haven't seen them all for a year. I can't be sure."

Draco looked down in self-loathing as he listened to his family bicker over who would notify the Dark Lord. He hated himself for what he had done as Bellatrix ordered him to send the Snatchers outside. As he reentered the room, he heard words that made his stomach churn as he fought the urge to throw up his dinner, the taste of bile fresh in his mouth.

"Take the prisoners to the basement Greyback," Bellatrix said with an evil smile. "All of them except for the Mudblood." She said, pointing at Hermione as Draco watched the girl shiver in fear.

"NO!" Draco yelled out before he could catch himself, causing his family to turn and stare. "Weasley, he is weaker. He would be easier to get answers out of." He said as Ron shouted out in Hermione's defense, begging to be tortured instead.

Bellatrix reached out, hitting Ron hard across the face as the sound of skin on skin contact echoed in the room. Her rotten teeth shown in Ron's still-blurred eyes from the contact as her decayed smelling breath filled his nostrils, nearly causing him to gag with nausea. "If I kill the girl, when I kill the girl," She said with an evil smile, causing Draco's stomach to sink at the thought. "Then I will torture you. Blood traitor is right next to Mudblood in my book little puppet." She said before pointing down towards the cellar stairs, Greyback following her demand.

Draco felt as though he could sink no lower, knowing now that he had just sentenced Hermione to her death as he watched his Auntie pull a short silver dagger from under her robes, dragging Hermione by her hair, along the ground where Draco had once played as a child, learning to crawl and walk, into the center of the room.

Looking away, Draco felt the nausea returning. No, this wasn't happening. It couldn't be. He had done everything in his power to save Hermione. To keep her safe from this as he watched tears already forming in Hermione's coffee colored eyes as she stared at him. No, Draco reminded himself, watching the girl stare straight ahead, her eyes empty. She wasn't staring at him. The Mudblood that he had grown to love over the past year and a half, that he had made love to, and argued with, and lost his virginity to all in less than a blink of an eye in time was shutting down. Hermione Granger, the smartest witch of her time and bravest witch he ever knew, was already giving up hope.

Bellatrix smiled, walking towards the young girl before bowing down in front of Hermione, taking her dagger and piercing Hermione's pale white skin on her forearm, a red ribbon of blood spilling out as Hermione screamed out in pain, filling the room with the horrid, blood-curdling sound.

Tears filled Draco's eyes as it took everything inside of him not to lunge forward, knocking Bellatrix off of Hermione and hold her body close. He watched as the room suddenly moved in slow-motion while he saw a bright red M appear on Hermione's skin.

"Where did you find it?" Bellatrix asks, yanking Hermione's hair back from her face, causing a small squeak of pain to exit the young girl's mouth. "Where?"

Hermione had more courage than Draco imagined as her mouth opened to answer Bellatrix, instead spitting directly in the woman's furious face.

"Little bitch thinks she can play," Bellatrix said in fury, backhanding Hermione as she lay on the floor. Bellatrix circled her like a lion ready to attack and kill it's prey. Draco shuddered, moving closer to his mother as Bellatrix gave Hermione a swift kick to the ribs, causing her to scream out in pain once more. Draco couldn't handle it. He couldn't watch this as he buried his face into his mother's dress and Bellatrix' voice rang out again.

"WHERE did you get this sword?" She asked, her voice sickening. "WHERE?!"

"We found it- We found it- PLEASE?" Hermione asked, begging for her life before getting kicked in the stomach this time, causing Hermione to throw up all over the floor of the Manor.

"Do you want to be marked forever as a Mudblood? Do you, you filthy bitch?!" Bellatrix screamed out, her voice showing that she was having fun in torturing Hermione. "You have been inside my vault, haven't you! Tell the truth! TELL ME!"

Climbing back on top of Hermione, Bellatrix carved deeper into Hermione's arm, once again filling the Manor with the sickening screams as Draco silently cried, knowing his mother would say nothing about the tears while she held him close. Silently, he apologized to Hermione. For loving her, for ruining her innocence, and for obliviating her. He apologized for agreeing that she was in fact the friend of Harry Potter, for betraying her as Hermione as the word MUDBLOOD was carved into her arm and Hermione's screams reminded him of what he had done.

"ANSWER ME!" Bellatrix yelled, pointing a wand at Hermione as she stood up, "CRUCIO!"

Hermione cried out once more as her body withered in pain, her muscles tensing up and releasing against the girl's own will as every nerve ending burned as if on fire. Her screams of pain echoed off the walls as each and every one of the bones in Hermione's body felt as if it were silently breaking, her organs twisting as if wringing the blood out of them, and her skin pleaded against the needles she felt entering every cell of her body.

Suddenly, all the pain stopped. Hermione couldn't explain it as her skin no longer tinged, her nerves no longer burnt and her organs no longer squeezed against themselves. Her body was still withering in pain, screams still leaving her mouth, but Hermione's mind was elsewhere as the scent of spearmint gum filled her senses and every solid memory Draco had erased came rushing back.

_"I'll do it," Her own voice telling Dumbledore with determination._

_"Granger," Draco's voice told her calmly, his grey eyes staring into her own. "Please shut up."_

_"You don't have to show me MUDBLOOD!" He yelled out, causing Hermione to jump back in fear._

_His kisses trailing down her back, then up her legs as Draco took the greatest care, making sure to embrace touching her in passion._

_"Close your eyes Hermione," He told her carefully with concern, brushing the hair from her eyes. "Go to sleep and the pain will ease."_

_The look in his eyes as he stared down at her, slowly making love to her as she imagined it would feel making love to the man she wanted to spend the rest of her life with._

_"Kiss me one last time."_

_"I love you too." Draco whispered through a cracked voice, as she saw the tears he was choking to fight back. "Obliviate."  
_

Hermione stared straight ahead as Bellatrix moved on, now yelling something at Griphook that Hermione could not understand. Bellatrix' laugh sounded as if it were underwater as Hermione's eyes went to the word now carved on her arm. _MUDBLOOD_. Silently, a single tear fell down her cheek as she thought of the love she had once held for Draco, the love she wasn't supposed to remember for the boy who now had his face hidden in his mother's shoulder, sobbing silently as Ron, Harry, Luna, and Dean ran back up the stairs from the dungeon, all a blur to Hermione as she heard hollers. As she was yanked to her feet, a dagger at her throat.

_Please, just kill me. _Hermione thought to herself, having enough of the torture, the agony of the returned memories, each one hurting a little more than the last. _Make this nightmare end._ She thought as the blurred voices filling the room all stopped, the chandelier above her and Bellatrix fell, causing her to run and fall into the familiar arms of Ron, the arms that always seemed to make everything feel better, even when they weren't. Her best friend, her rock in an ever-changing world.

Draco could see that Hermione was still numb, not quite herself as Dobby, his old house elf, stood in front of the group, disapparating them out of the Manor. He watched in slow motion as the dagger that had tortured Hermione left Bellatrix' hand. He held his breath for the quarter of a second that it took for him to watch the dagger spinning through the air, each turn causing him to feel a little bit more fear. Time stood still as he watched the brown of Hermione's hair blur in with the red of Weasley's shirt, all of them spinning into a blurred orb of disapparation as the dagger hit the orb and they left with a flash, the dagger never reappearing on the other side as Bellatrix smiled with pride. The dagger had hit someone, Draco's stomach sank as he could only hope that it wasn't Hermione.


	19. A Broken Heart

**A/N: Sorry everyone, as you have noticed, the closer I get to the end of one of my stories, the harder it gets to write. I fall in love with the characters just as much as you guys do, living with their love stories, their heartbreaks, their laughter and their tears. Each time one of these fanfics, characters provided by none other than the amazing JK Rowling herself, I feel the same emotions that rushed through me as I saw the epilogue of 7-2, as I read the final page of Deathly Hallows. Apologies for the delayed chapter. I love you all and couldn't do it without you.**

Hermione held back the overwhelming emotions as she realized that, despite her now broken and betrayed heart, the trio still had a job to do. Using the excuse that her body still ached from the Unforgivable Curse that had been placed upon her, Hermione asked for her space the first day after they left the Manor. Harry happily obliged, feeling his own heartache from losing Dobby. Ron distracted himself, talking to Bill and Fleur, updating them on everything that had happened since the last time they had spoke at Christmas.

Staring down at the grave Harry had dug for Dobby, Hermione finally let a single tear fall. She couldn't help but feel the overwhelming emotions once more. A tear for betrayal fell from her eyes. Draco had left her alone, never once mentioning the love they had shared. A tear of ache as she begged to feel his arms around her once more. Falling to her knees, Hermione let out a tear of remembrance as she saw his evil smile covered his face, asking her if she was a virgin. The tears continued to fall as Hermione stared down at the words on Dobby's grave.

_Dobby_

_A free elf_

Anyone passing by would see a school girl mourning over a lost friend, a faithful servant who had shown Hermione the purpose of freedom and what it stood for. Instead, she was mourning over the man she loved, the man she knew still didn't know what freedom was.

Standing up, Hermione pulled a single hair from her clothing, seeing that it was long and black, they had everything they needed.

* * *

As Harry, Ron, and Hermione followed Neville through the only tunnel still accessible for students as they listened how everything had been changing there at Hogwarts. Memories flooded Hermione of entering Hogwarts for the first time as she walked down the darkened tunnel, the only light being Neville's wand guiding them. She could still smell the first Opening Feast as she felt the texture of the sorting hat on her head. The laughter they held during Quidditch matches filled her ears as she walked beneath the pitch and around the lake where she had denied Viktor Krum the opportunity to kiss her. Tears filled Hermione's eyes with memories of the Yule Ball and gossipping with Ginny as Neville moved aside the painting, exposing over a hundred students sleeping in the Room of Requirement.

"It's not much, but it's home." Neville said, his face beaten and bruised as he smiled despite all the torture he had experienced. Hermione forced a laugh, completely understanding what Neville was saying as she saw the familiar faces she had grown to love over the years. Her friends were all there. They were all okay.

She smiled as Ginny and Luna hugged her, thankful that her friends were alive. Ginny gave Hermione a questioning look as she hugged her, Hermione simply shaking her head in response. Ginny nodded in understanding, no words needing to be spoken as it often sat between only the closest of friends, a full conversation without a word being spoken.

Suddenly Seamus spoke up, breaking the comforting reunion Harry, Ron, and Hermione had anticipated since the day they left. "So what's the plan?"

"Plan?" Harry asked, realizing they still had a job to do as he came back to reality. "Right...umm... well, there's something Ron, Hermione, and I need to do. Something we need to get. I can't explain any more, it's kind of a secret but we need to find something."

"Okay," Seamus said, ready for a mission. "What is it?"

"We don't know." Harry answered with a sigh.

"Where is it?" Dean asked, trying to piece together what it could possibly mean.

"We don't know." Harry answers again with a sigh, realizing he wasn't leaving them with much to work off of. "But it may belong to Ravenclaw. Something with an eagle perhaps."

Luna was the first to speak up, talking of a diadem that had been lost for centuries before she offered to take Harry to find it, the two of them hiding under the invisibility cloak as they left the Room of Requirement. Hermione sighed, her heart aching as she pulled Ginny to the side. The one word she asked was enough between the best friends as she whispered it softly.

"Draco?" She asked, her heart breaking at the sound of his name on her own lips.

"He's here," Ginny answered, "Returned back to school about two weeks ago. I haven't seen much of him though, have been trying not to be seen by the Carrows. Even he has changed with everything going on here." She said with a sigh, "Must be so hard being a Death Eater." Hermione's best friend answered, rolling her eyes.

"What do you mean?" Hermione asked softly, confused by what Ginny was saying as she tried to make it sound like she was suspicious of Draco Malfoy's behavior.

"I can't explain it." Ginny answered, "All I know is something's different. He's quiet, withdrawn. More like he was last year when he was trying to-" She stopped, words not needing to be said for what everyone now knew Draco was supposed to do.

Hermione nodded her head, completely understanding what Ginny was saying. Of course Draco was quiet, withdrawn. He wasn't the selfish, pompous little boy she had known for years. Draco had a heart now, he just didn't know what to do now that he had realized it.

Before anything else could be explained, Harry came rushing back into the room with Luna, both of them looking as though they had come into an encounter. Luna's hair was tangled and sloppy while Harry had a cut on his eyebrow. Another cut showing his busted lip exposed the truth, they had been discovered. Hermione hadn't noticed as the Aurors appeared, Kingsley and Tonks taking the lead, nor had she noticed that her old classmates, Oliver Wood, Fred and George Weasley, and Katie Bell had returned, being entrapped in her own thoughts of the man she had lost.

"Voldermort's back," Harry said firmly, gathering everyone's attention. "He's coming this way. Snape made a run for it, went back like the faithful servant he is. They're barricading the school. We have to go to the Great Hall. We...we have to fight." He said with remorse for the lives he already knew they were going to lose, friends and family, and could only hope that the deaths wouldn't be of great numbers.

Everyone cheered as Molly pulled Ginny to the side, an argument taking place. Hermione looked back at her best friend before sighing heavily.

"Come on Hermione," Ron said softly, his own heart breaking at the thought of what they were about to do. "We have to go. Get a head start."

Hermione nodded her head, following him out of the room and towards the Chamber of Secrets. Even in the now darkened and gloomy corridor as they passed the Great Hall, Hermione could still remember the first time she had seen Draco.

"_At Hogwarts, you need to make sure you're hanging out with the right sort. I can help with that."_

Tears filled her eyes at the sight of the young boy with white, slicked back hair in her head, a tense face even back then as he held his head with pride, too much pride for your typical eleven year old. Did he know, even then, that one day he would be following his father? That he would be a slave to the only man whose name would never be mentioned in his own home?

"Ron, where are we going?" She asked, rushing to keep up as she fought back the tears in her eyes, pretending they were tears of adrinaline as they got ready to fight the battle they had awaited for seven years.

"The basalisk." Ron answers, "The poison in it's tooth will destroy the last Horcrux. We need something."

"Ron, that's brilliant!" Hermione answered, shocked that he had thought of it. They still had hope. "You're brilliant!"

"Thanks," Ron answered, blushing as he led them down to the Chamber, "but I don't know if brilliant is the word for it." He said, looking away in embarrassment.

As the duo climbed through the stone snake covered door, Hermione smiled, thrilled that Ron had thought ahead.

"We have it?" She asked as she watched him pick up the fang that had saved his sister's life years ago.

"Yea, we have it." He answered as the two ran out of the Chamber, going to now look for Harry. Hermione couldn't help but hope somewhere she would run into Draco in the corridors, at least be able to see him again before she died, even if they couldn't talk.

In a pant, Hermione finally saw Harry's familiar face, running only faster to get to him. "Ron...suggested...we went for basalisk fangs...Horcrux...now what?" She panted, out of breath as Ron followed behind her, stopping when he got to Harry.

"The diadem wasn't in the Ravenclaw tower." Harry answers, "but it's been lost for years. Decades. Centuries. There is only one other place I can think of it being." He said in desperation as Ron and Hermione looked at him confused. "The place where everything is hidden."

"The Room of Requirement!" Hermione and Ron exclaimed in unison as the three of them turned around, running back towards the secret room, starting to hear large bangs outside as they knew their friends were fighting, some killing and others dying.

"It's in here." Hermione said as they entered. "It has to be. _Accio Diadem!" _She cried in desperation, pointing her wand in the room before sighing in defeat when nothing came back.

"It has to be here," Harry answered, "Look around. It's here somewhere." He said as the three split up, running through the piles of broken chairs, out-of-age books, and faded robes.

Hermione looked down, her heart breaking once more as she saw an abandoned snow glove laying in the passageway amongst the forgotten items.

_"Picking out your dream home Weasel-bee? Don't your family all sleep in one room?"_

She could hear the voice clear as day, the cold drawl it held. _"That's my wand you're holding Potter." _Suddenly she stopped in her tracks. Hermione had never heard Draco say that before but...she just did. His voice just said it in her head. Or was it...it couldn't be...

"Harry? Are you talking to someone?" Ron's voice rang out before Hermione heard a loud crash, followed by Harry screaming out Ron's name with fear, causing another scream to come out. It took Hermione a minute to recognize the other scream, realizing it was coming out of her own mouth.

Running as fast as she could, Hermione only wanted to see his face one last time. Turning the corner, Hermione caught a simple glance at the man standing there in black, his white hair a mess as his face looked sleepless. Hermione couldn't help but feel her heart warm at the sight, despite how desperate he may look before seeing Crabbe's pudgy fingers gripping his wand, pointed at her own face.

"It's that Mudblood! _Avada Kedavra!" _Crabbe yelled, shooting a spell at Hermione as another scream left her mouth and she hid behind a pile of broken broomsticks.

"DON'T KILL HER!" Draco yelled out in fury, causing Hermione's heart to skip a beat before he continued. "Don't kill him! Don't kill her! Stop trying to bloody kill everyone you overgrown baboon!"

Hermione took a deep breath, staring at her own wand before turning around. "_Expelliamus!" _She screamed, disarming Goyle before aiming her wand at Draco, her eyes meeting his momentarily.

Memories flashed through both their minds in the half of a second that their eyes met. Memories of arguing pettily, of making love, of their final kiss and every laugh. Both of their hearts mended as if the ending of a beautiful love story had never been written. They saw their future together in that momentary glance, seeing them laughing together every night before they held each other, drifting off to sleep. They saw what they could have been had they both been willing to fight for the love they knew they shared. As Hermione's mouth opened, using a simple Stunning Spell instead of something harmful, tears in her eyes as she did what she knew she had to do, understanding now why Draco obliviated her, both their hearts broke again with reality sinking in.

Draco quickly dodged the spell as Hermione shot another at Crabbe, "Run Harry," She said in desperation. "Me and Ron will take care of these two."

Harry nodded running off behind her as Ron ran after Crabbe, both of them disappearing behind Draco as Goyle followed, leaving the couple alone to stare at each other.

"Kill me." Hermione said softly with tears, staring into his eyes. She knew that was what he had to do, that was the only way either one of them would ever let go.

"No," Draco answered, sticking his own wand in his pocket as he put his hands up. "Now's your chance Granger. The moment you have been waiting for."

"It's Hermione," She bit back as tears streamed down her face.

"Do it." He said, ignoring her comment. "Kill me. I loved you from day one."

"But..." Hermione started, thinking of the first time he called her a mudblood, how he told Harry and Ron he wanted the basalisk to kill her.

_"And you must be...miss Granger? Draco has told me all about you."_

_"_Take your shot Granger," Draco repeated, "I won't offer it again but I would rather be dead than live with this for another seven years." He said, a choke in his voice. Hermione wondered if he had the same tears in his eyes as the ones falling down her cheeks.

"I WON'T!" She screamed, her emotions overwhelming as her voice pleaded for him to change his mind. "I CAN'T!"  
"DO IT MUDBLOOD!" Draco hollered back, only giving Hermione enough time for the words to sink in and her heart to break once more before Ron ran back by Draco, fear on his face as he almost bumped into him.

"FIRE!" Ron yelled as he ran past Hermione, grabbing her hand and pulling her away from Draco. Hermione glanced over her shoulder just long enough to see Draco running with Crabbe and Goyle, a firey snake chasing them.

"What did you do, you idiot?!" Draco screamed out to Crabbe who turned around to see the snake, sweat rolling down his face.

"Fiendfyre." He answered with fear as the trio tried to climb a tower of broken chairs, getting away from the fire.

"Harry, we have to go!" Hermione yelled. "The room is on fire! Come on!" She cried out as they ran into Harry, who was tightly clenching the diadem. Harry nodded, grabbing a broomstick before throwing one to Ron.

"Come on!" Harry said quickly as Hermione climbed on top of Ron's broom, gripping tightly to him.

They flew above the flames as Hermione looked down, hoping to see Draco somewhere the flames hadn't yet covered the floor as she heard the cackling of the flames, the heat radiating up to her, nearly making it unbearable to even breathe as she coughed, smoke filling her lungs.

She heard another cough, followed by the voice once more. "Come on Goyle, climb faster you idiot!" It yelled as Hermione looked through the dense smoke, trying to spot the man who had begged her for death.

"CRABBE!" She heard another voice yell as she spotted them at the top of the pile of broken chairs, watching the obese Slytherin fall with a scream, only to be engulfed by the flames. She shuddered, thankful that at least his death was painless.

"Harry," She cried out, tears in her eyes. "We have to save them." She said as Harry spotted the doorway, knowing their own escape was only seconds away. Harry turned to look at Hermione as her eyes pleaded with him, begging him to have mercy on the man she loved. Softly Harry nodded his head, turning his broom around.

Sighing, Harry sped forward towards the two boys attempting to move up higher to save their own lives. "Come on Ron," He said, causing Ron to look at him in shock.

"If I die because of Malfoy, Harry, I'm going to kill you." Ron said, following Harry's command as he turned his own broom around. The trio fought past the now-higher flames, dancing through the air as they begged for their next victim. Covering his mouth and nose with his shirt, Ron coughed heavily from the smoke while Harry grabbed Draco's outreached hand, Ron taking Goyle's as he jumped on the broom, it lowering a few feet closer to the flames from the added weight. A broom wasn't made to carry three people but Ron knew Harry was right, they couldn't let them die.

"THERE!" Draco yelled into Harry's ear, pointing past Harry's face to the door, barely visible in the smoke-filled room before coughing himself. "THE DOOR!"

"I see it," Harry yelled back, leaning down closer to the broom to speed faster.

"THE DOOR!" Draco yelled again in desperation.

"I SEE IT!" Harry bit back in frustration, flying through the doorway as the doors closed behind Ron, Hermione, and Goyle, who followed directly behind, and the broom handles hit the floor, throwing all five teenagers off of their brooms onto the marble floors. Coughing and retching, their lungs begged for the fresh air suddenly around them as Draco leaned over on his hands and knees, throwing up from the heavy smoke that had filled his lungs.

Hermione sat up, panting next to a now unconscious Goyle, who had most likely inhaled more smoke than his body could handle, causing him to pass out.

Draco turned his head, looking at the closed door in mourning of his friend. "Crabbe...Crabbe..." He said in pain as he looked on, holding a foolish hope that his friend could still be saved.

"He's dead." Ron bit harshly. "Gone, dead. Give up." He said, unwilling to go back in there after someone he knew they couldn't save. "And you will be too if you go back in that room."

Draco continued to stare at the door in shock before a shake surrounded them, causing dust to fall from the ceiling with a loud bang. "We have to go." Harry said quickly, "I have to make sure Ginny is okay." He said, standing up quickly.

Hermione and Ron nodded their heads, following Harry down the corridor as Hermione turned around once again, seeing Draco's soot-covered face in his hands. Closing her eyes, she tried to focus on the task at hand. She had saved his life, that's all she could do for now.

Hermione fought through the rubble and the crowds, watching those dearest to her fight a battle that at this moment, looked as though it had already been lost. She ran past as her closest friends crumbled beneath the rubble of the stone, as those she considered family shed their blood for the same freedom Dobby had died for and Draco now lived without. People like that never change, Ron had told her as Harry saved Draco's life from a Death Eater once more beneath the Invisibility Cloak, only for Ron to punch him as they ran past.

Tears that Hermione didn't even know she had fell as she had hugged Harry, knowing this was a battle he had to fight on his own, facing Voldermort alone. He had told them what the prophecy had said, neither can live while the other survives. She knew there was no arguing it, this was the way that it had to be as she wrapped her arms around her best friend's neck, holding him possibly for the last time. "Be careful," She had whispered softly into his ear, knowing Harry was the brother she was never given.

Now Hermione stood in the rubble in front of the school, surrounded by the Weasley family, minus Fred. Percy stood behind her proudly as she thought about what Voldermort had rang through all their heads. Harry was dead, as were half of their own that were fighting for freedom. She watched as Voldermort and the Death Eaters walked closer, seeing Hagrid in chains. No, that couldn't be, she thought as her stomach sank. What was Hagrid holding?

"He tried to run." Voldermort hollered out to the crowd. "The coward was going to abandon you all to fight for yourselves." He said as Death Eaters chuckled to themselves. "HARRY POTTER IS DEAD!" He hollered as screams filled the crowd, Hermione not realizing that one of those screams was her own while the Death Eaters cheered.

"NO!" Screams filled the gap that stood between the Death Eaters and the castle.

"DON'T YOU SEE?! You put your trust in a boy! A child! One who in the end, ran for cover, leaving the rest of you to die!" He yelled furiously. "STEP FORWARD! Join the Death Eaters where you rightfully belong. Those who don't, will die! Harry Potter is dead!"

The entire crowd stood silently as Voldermort paced, waiting for the first person to step forward and become a Death Eater to save their own life before a soft voice whispered gently.

"Draco..." The voice called out, causing everyone to turn to one of Voldermort's Death Eaters, Lucius Malfoy. Hermione stared in shock at the man, once holding his head high and proud, now fearful and worn looking as though he hadn't shaved or slept in a week. He looked nothing like the man Draco had once imitated as Hermione pretended to be his wife, walking down Knockturn Alley behind him. "Draco...come." He repeated, this time a little more firm.

Hermione's gaze turned to the boy standing there, fearful as soot still covered his face. She could see he was fighting back the urge to cry as he looked around at the others he had just fought alongside to save his own skin. He looked down at his feet, realizing this was what betrayal felt like as he avoiding looking in Hermione's direction.

"Come," A softer, female voice said, cracking as it left his mother's lips causing Draco to take a slow step forward, then another. Hermione felt her heart breaking as she watched the man she loved and had once again lost step forward, each step a little more cautious than the last until he reached the man he feared the most. Tears streamed down Hermione's face as she choked back the urge to fall to the ground, crying out in pain.

Draco stood perfectly still as Voldermort wrapped his cold, clammy hands around Draco in a weak embrace. He couldn't help but try to hide his shudder, knowing the man had no care or concern for him. Not after the torture Draco had watched Voldermort do to his mother and father in front of him. Walking over, Draco stood next to his father, who put a firm hand on Draco's shoulder, and stared on at the mudblood he knew he would never forget.


	20. Epilogue

Harry had been alive. Hermione couldn't believe it when she had seen it, the happiest moment of her life as Harry had fallen from Hagrid's arms, wand at ready. She had stayed by his side after he defeated Voldermort, as he explained how the elder wand had really worked, that it belonged to Draco for disarming Dumbledore, instead of Snape who held Dumbledore's blood on his hands. Days passed after the war as Harry went forward, explaining that Severus Snape was in fact a hero instead of just a Death Eater. Weeks began to pass as Ron comforted his family, helping them deal with the loss of Fred.

Hermione had to find other things to preoccupy her time as both of her best friends did what they had to. Just because the war was over, their work wasn't done. Hermione was at a loss with nothing that she needed to do post-war. Instead, she focused on the trials. Anytime something was in the Daily Prophet about Draco and his family, Hermione cut it out, keeping up vigorously with the trials as Draco finally fought for the freedom he was never given.

Pictures were cut out of Draco standing next to his mother, pictures of the Aurors raiding the Manor, dragging out numerous dark items, most which Hermione had seen at Borgin and Burkes. She kept articles where Draco claimed his innocence, swearing he had switched sides in the end. Each newspaper article, each black and white photo, had it's own place on the wall in Hermione's new flat. Books lay across her coffee table, legal books containing wizarding laws, each one bookmarked in numerous places to spot where a law was flawed, where their innocence could be proven. This was her latest obsession.

As the one month anniversary of The Battle Of Hogwarts was rolling around, Hermione sat on her couch, nose-deep in her latest wizarding law book, when she heard a knock on the door. Stopping what she was doing, Hermione put the book down and walked over, opening the door.

"Hey," Ginny said, working her way past Hermione into the room. "Do you know what today is?" She asked with a smile.

"The second?" Hermione asked in confusion.

"June second," Ginny answers, "It's been a month since we won." She said happily. "Seamus said they are throwing a party at the Hogs Head to celebrate. You should go Hermione, you need to get out of this flat for a while." She said, looking over at the extensive collage Hermione had built up on her wall over the past month with concern.

"No thanks," Hermione whispered, looking down at the book she had been reading. "I really don't feel like being social."

"Hermione, all you do is sit in this flat and read, and cut out pictures of Malfoy, and then read some more. It's not healthy. You lived through the war, you need to go out and live." She said, standing up.

"I really don't want to Ginny," Hermione whispers again as Ginny sees how deep the depression had gotten.

Softly, she sighs. "Fine, I don't know what your obsession is with Malfoy, but he will be there." She said, hoping that would be enough as she started to head out of the flat door.

"WAIT!" Hermione said, grabbing Ginny's arm. "Draco's going to be there?" She asked in shock.

"Hermione, right now everyone but you is going to be there." Ginny answered, knowing she had hit a nerve. "Unless you change your mind of course." She added as she watched Hermione leave the room without saying a word. Ginny tried to hide her smile.

* * *

Hermione walked into the crowded pub wearing the same red dress she had worn to Bill's wedding with the necklace her and Draco had bought from Borgin and Burkes. Looking around, she didn't see Draco's face. Immediately her heart broke in disappointment.

Sitting down, she watched from a quiet corner as Neville, Ron, and Harry laughed. She watched as Ginny danced with Luna, the two of them showing how thankful they were just to be alive. Dean and Seamus sat up at the bar, taking turns taking shots of Firewhiskey until Seamus tried to get up and fell flat on his arse to the amusement of everyone including himself.

Feeling more like a wall decoration at the pub than a member of the party, Hermione watched with an empty sadness. She wanted to be happy, to celebrate the victory they had accomplished. She wanted to celebrate the fact that she had survived, but it felt impossible as she sensed she was more dead than ever. The music blared, filling the small pub with an overwhelmingly boistorous noise until it slipped through the building walls, evaporating outside to the cobblestone road.

"Dance with us Hermione," Luna said with a smile, tilting her head to the side as she rushed back to the table momentarily, only stopping long enough to take another drink of her butterbeer. "It's fun."

Hermione shook her head, fighting back the tears building up in her eyes as the door to the pub opened once more, causing Hermione to turn her head quickly, hoping to see the sanguine look on Draco's stern, sharp featured face, only to see the gorilla-like face of Gregory Goyle entering the pub with Milicent Bulstrode. With a look of dismay on her face, Hermione looked back down at the table. "No thanks," She answered, her heart breaking once more.

"Okay," Luna answers with a carefree look on her face. "We will be over there if you change your mind."

Around her, Hermione heard the laughter, she heard the music and the joy in everyone's voices. She was a hero of the party, but truthfully all she wanted was to be alone. Quietly, she walked outside feeling like she needed fresh air, that maybe that would help her see things more clearly.

The night air was cool as Hermione heard the soft beat of the music through the brick walls. Leaning against the wall, Hermione took a few deep breaths of the calming air, feeling the dampness of the mist in the air almost as if the dew were sitting on her own skin. It was a calming feeling, almost relaxing to be away from the chaos for a while and just be able to collect her thoughts. Draco wasn't coming. She knew this now. Maybe it was time for her to move on, to accept the lingering fact that she had been nothing more than another notch on his belt, one to be used for a while and then to be forgotten once the time came for him to move on.

Allowing her legs to collapse underneath her, Hermione fell to the ground and once again allowed herself to cry for a man whose embrace she would never again feel. She didn't notice the people moving past her as the tears flooded her eyes, as the heavy sobs dominated her breathing, causing her to gasp for air in between as she felt her heart crumble.

"Hold on Flint," A familiar voice said as Hermione heard the repetitive footsteps in front of her come to a halt. "I'll be right inside, I'm going to check something first." Hermione then heard the pub door open and close once more before a soft, warm hand rested on her shoulder. "Hermione?" A calming voice asked with concern.

Hermione wiped her tears away from her face, fighting back the sobs before looking up. For a second, she thought she must be hallucinating. There was no way that the grey eyes that now held concern, that the white furrowed brows that shown nothing less than devotion. It felt surreal as Hermione stared at the man she thought for the past month that she would never talk to again.

"Draco?" Hermione asked through her cracked voice, her eyes glazing over as she stared at him. "What are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same," Draco answers, "Then again, I could ask you where you got the necklace, but I have a feeling we both already know the answer to that." He said, looking down in shame.

"So what are you going to do then? Obliviate me again? Make me forget the nights we shared, the beautiful words you spoke? Is it easier to love them and leave them when they can't remember loving you at all?" Hermione bit viciously, fury in her eyes.

"Hermione, it was nothing like that." Draco tried to explain before being interupted.

"Don't call me that!" Hermione snapped with rage. "We both know the only time you called me that, it's Granger remember? That never happened, it was a blink in time! You obliviated me!"

"Shut up Granger." Draco said calmly, his eyes holding the same alluring look they had held years ago when he had said the same statement, leaving Hermione once again speechless. "I did what I had to to protect you. I knew before we ever left that I would have to take the Dark Mark. That's what Dumbledore meant when he said he could protect my mother. He protected her by not fighting back when I went up there to kill him. I still have nightmares about what I did, and...and what I didn't do. I regret the fact that I never had the courage to stand up to the Dark Lord, that I could never stand up to my father and tell him that I loved a muggle born. You think those two years weren't hell on me? How shallow do you think I am? Granger, Hermione.." He said, lifting Hermione's chin so that she was looking into his eyes. "I will never hurt you like that again. I love you."

Draco kissed Hermione like he had never kissed a woman before, gently pressing his lips against hers with utter fragility, closing his eyes into the kiss as he felt the softest touch imaginable. A flutter of butterflies returned to Hermione's stomach, dancing as a light that had once been diminished inside of her reappeared, filling her with the familiar warmth that she feared she would never feel again.

As Draco slowly pulled away he looked into her eyes which were once again tear-filled, but for the first time since they had returned to 1995, with joy. He smiled, feeling the warmth return to his own heart, finally thankful to be with his true love once more.


End file.
